Chengdu, China, hosted the 2022 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals beginning Friday (30 September), lasting through 9 October. The 56th edition of the Championships – and 11th as a standalone Team Championships – were fiercely contested, with the hosts China continuing their domination of the sport. But when did China win its first medals? Which other teams dominate the Championships? When was the last time China did not win World Championships gold? Olympics.com takes a look at a brief history of the World Table Tennis Championships, and its all-time medal table. This tournament was introduced in the year 1996, known as ITTF pro tour, but was changed in the year 2011. This tournament is played under six categories − Men’s and Women’s doubles, Men’s and Women’s Singles and Men’s and Women’s under 21 matches. This tournament has its own point system. The players gaining most number of points might be invited to the ITTF world tour grand finals. In the earlier days of the tournament, Hungary’s men’s team was a dominant force, winning the championships 12 times. This was followed by a short period of dominance by Japan in the 1950s. From the 1960s onwards, China emerged as the new dominant power in this tournament and, with the exception of 1989–2000, when Sweden won four times, China continues to dominate the sport. China’s men’s team holds a record 22 world team championship titles.
Chengdu, China, hosted the 2022 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals beginning Friday (30 September), lasting through 9 October. The 56th edition of the Championships – and 11th as a standalone Team Championships – were fiercely contested, with the hosts China continuing their domination of the sport. But when did China win its first medals? Which other teams dominate the Championships? When was the last time China did not win World Championships gold? Olympics.com takes a look at a brief history of the World Table Tennis Championships, and its all-time medal table. This tournament was introduced in the year 1996, known as ITTF pro tour, but was changed in the year 2011. This tournament is played under six categories − Men’s and Women’s doubles, Men’s and Women’s Singles and Men’s and Women’s under 21 matches. This tournament has its own point system. The players gaining most number of points might be invited to the ITTF world tour grand finals. In the earlier days of the tournament, Hungary's men's team was a dominant force, winning the championships 12 times. This was followed by a short period of dominance by Japan in the 1950s. From the 1960s onwards, China emerged as the new dominant power in this tournament and, with the exception of 1989–2000, when Sweden won four times, China continues to dominate the sport. China's men's team holds a record 22 world team championship titles.
Women's doubles were introduced at the second edition of the World Championships, held in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1928, while the women's team event made its debut in 1934 in Paris, France. The team events formed part of every World Championships until 1997, after which they were split into individual and team events. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, hosted the first World Team Championships in 2000, while Osaka, Japan, hosted the final combined World Championships a year later. Early editions were dominated by European countries, notably Hungary, before the People's Republic of China finally joined the Championships in the 1950s and began winning titles.
