The World Table Tennis Championships are table tennis competitions held by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The World Championships have been held since 1926, biennially since 1957. Five individual events, which include men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's double and mixed doubles, are currently held in odd numbered years. The World Team Table Tennis Championships, which include men's team and women's team events, were first their own competition in 2000. The Team Championships are held in even numbered years.

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 24 world team championship titles.

In the 1950s, Japan's women team was a force to be reckoned with winning a total of 8 titles. The Chinese women started their strong grip on the world team championships from the 1970s onwards. They have only lost twice since 1975. China holds 24 women's team titles.

Trophies

There are 7 different trophies presented to the winners of the various events, held by winning associations, and returned for the next world championships. Team competition: Swaythling Cup for men's team, donated in 1926 by Gladys, Baroness Swaythling, mother of the first ITTF president, Ivor Montagu Corbillon Cup for women's team, donated in 1933 by Marcel Corbillon, president of the French Table Tennis Association. The original Cup was won by German team in 1939, and disappeared during Berlin occupation after World War II; the current Corbillon Cup is a replica made in 1949. Singles competition: St. Bride Vase for men's singles, donated in 1929 by C.Corti Woodcock, member of the exclusive St. Bride Table Tennis Club in London, after Fred Perry of England won the title in Budapest Geist Prize for women's singles, donated in 1931 by Dr. Gaspar Geist, president of the Hungarian Table Tennis Association Doubles competition: Iran Cup for men's doubles; first presented at the 1947 World Championships by the Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran W.J. Pope Trophy for women's doubles; donated in 1948 by the ITTF honorary general secretary W.J. Pope Heydusek Cup for mixed doubles; donated in 1948 by Zdenek Heydusek, secretary of the Czechoslovakia Association.

In addition, the Egypt Cup is presented to the next host of world championships. The Cup was donated by King Farouk of Egypt in 1939, when the championships were held in Cairo, Egypt.

Editions The ITTF held individual events and team events separately for the first time in 1999 and 2000 respectively, and 2001 was the last time individual and team events were held together. Starting in 2003 individual events and team events were held separately again and each continue to be held separately every other year.

Individual events Team events

Edition Year Host city Host country Events1 1926 London England52 1928 Stockholm Sweden63 1929 Budapest Hungary641930 Berlin Germany651931 Budapest Hungary661932 Prague Czechoslovakia671933 Baden bei Wien Austria681934 Paris France791935 Wembley England7101936 Prague Czechoslovakia7111937 Baden bei Wien Austria7121938 Wembley England7131939 Cairo Egypt7141947 Paris France7151948 Wembley England7161949 Stockholm Sweden7171950 Budapest Hungary7181951 Vienna Austria7191952 Mumbai India7201953 Bucharest Romania7211954 Wembley England7221955 Utrecht Netherlands7231956 Tokyo Japan7241957 Stockholm Sweden7251959 Dortmund FR Germany7261961 Beijing China7271963 Prague Czechoslovakia7281965 Ljubljana Yugoslavia7291967 Stockholm Sweden7301969 Munich FR Germany7311971 Nagoya Japan7321973 Sarajevo Yugoslavia7331975 Kolkata India7341977 Birmingham England7351979 Pyongyang DPR Korea7361981 Novi Sad Yugoslavia7371983 Tokyo Japan7381985 Gothenburg Sweden7391987 New Delhi India7401989 Dortmund FR Germany7411991 Chiba City Japan7421993 Gothenburg Sweden7431995 Tianjin China7441997 Manchester England7 Edition Year Host city Host country Events451999 EindhovenNetherlands52000 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia2462001 Osaka Japan7472003 ParisFrance52004 Doha Qatar2482005 ShanghaiChina52006 Bremen Germany2492007 ZagrebCroatia52008 Guangzhou China2502009 YokohamaJapan52010 Moscow Russia2512011 RotterdamNetherlands52012 Dortmund Germany2522013 ParisFrance52014 Tokyo Japan2532015 SuzhouChina52016 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia2542017 DüsseldorfGermany52018 Halmstad Sweden2552019 BudapestHungary52020 Busan South Korea (cancelled)–562021 HoustonUnited States52022 Chengdu China2572023 DurbanSouth Africa52024 Busan South Korea2582025 DohaQatar52026 London England2592027 AstanaKazakhstan52028 Fukuoka Japan2602029 Rio de JaneiroBrazil5

All-time medal table

Updated after the 2026 World Team Table Tennis Championships. Doubles pairs from different associations were counted as a half a point.

Multiple medalists

Top medalists ordered by number of gold medals at the World Table Tennis Championships (including at team events) are listed below. 13 men and 10 women won at least nine gold medals.

Men Rank Player Country From To Gold Silver BronzeTotal 1 Viktor Barna / 1929 1954 22 7 12 41 2 Miklós Szabados 1929 1937 15 6 3 24 3 Ma Long 2006 2024 14 1 4 19 4 Bohumil Váňa 1935 1955 13 10 7 30 5 Ichiro Ogimura 1954 1965 12 5 3 20 6 Wang Liqin 1997 2013 11 4 5 20 7 Xu Xin 2009 2019 10 1 2 13 8 Wang Chuqin 2018 2026 10 1 0 11 9 Ivan Andreadis 1947 1957 9 10 8 27 10 Ferenc Sidó 1947 1961 9 9 8 26 11 Ma Lin 1999 2013 9 7 4 20 12 Wang Hao 2003 2014 9 4 3 16 13 Fan Zhendong 2014 2024 9 2 2 13

Women Rank Player Country From To Gold Silver BronzeTotal 1 Mária Mednyánszky 1926 1936 18 6 4 28 2 Angelica Rozeanu 1937 1957 17 5 8 30 3 Wang Nan 1997 2008 15 3 2 20 4 Anna Sipos 1929 1935 11 6 4 21 5 Gizella Farkas 1947 1959 10 9 8 27 6 Guo Yue 2003 2013 10 5 2 17 7 Zhang Yining 1999 2009 10 2 4 16 8 Sun Yingsha 2019 2026 10 1 1 12 9 Li Xiaoxia 2006 2016 9 5 2 16 10 Deng Yaping 1989 1997 9 5 – 14

Players with all-around champions 8 men and 9 women who won the gold medals in all singles, doubles, mixed doubles and team events are listed below.

Name Gender Nationality Birth Times won Singles Doubles Mixed Team Viktor Barna Male HungaryEngland 1911 5 (1930, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935) 8 (1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1939) 2 (1932, 1935) 7 (1929, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1938) Miklós Szabados Male Hungary 1912 1 (1932) 6 (1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1935) 3 (1930, 1931, 1934) 5 (1929, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1935) Bohumil Váňa Male Czechoslovakia 1920 2 (1938, 1947) 3 (1947, 1948, 1951) 3 (1937, 1939, 1951) 5 (1939, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951) Ferenc Sidó Male Hungary 1923 1 (1953) 2 (1950, 1953) 4 (1949, 1950, 1952, 1953) 2 (1949, 1952) Angelica Rozeanu Female Romania 1921 6 (1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955) 3 (1953, 1955, 1956) 3 (1951, 1952, 1953) 5 (1950, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956) Ichiro Ogimura Male Japan 1932 2 (1954, 1956) 2 (1956, 1959) 3 (1957, 1959, 1961) 5 (1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959) Kimiyo Matsuzaki Female Japan 1938 2 (1959, 1963) 1 (1963) 1 (1961) 3 (1959, 1961, 1963) Lin Huiqing Female China 1941 1 (1971) 2 (1965, 1971) 1 (1971) 1 (1965) Cao Yanhua Female China 1962 2 (1983, 1985) 1 (1981) 1 (1985) 3 (1979, 1981, 1983) Hyun Jung-hwa Female South Korea 1969 1 (1993) 1 (1987) 1 (1989) 1 (1991) Liu Guoliang Male China 1976 1 (1999) 2 (1997, 1999) 1 (1997) 3 (1995, 1997, 2001) Wang Nan Female China 1978 3 (1999, 2001, 2003) 5 (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007) 1 (2003) 6 (1997, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008) Wang Liqin Male China 1978 3 (2001, 2005, 2007) 2 (2001, 2003) 2 (2005, 2007) 4 (2001, 2004, 2006, 2008) Guo Yue Female China 1988 1 (2007) 2 (2009, 2011, 2013) 2 (2005, 2007) 4 (2004, 2006, 2008, 2012) Liu Shiwen Female China 1991 1 (2019) 2 (2015, 2017) 1 (2019) 4 (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018) Sun Yingsha Female China 2000 2 (2023, 2025) 2 (2019, 2021) 3 (2021, 2023, 2025) 3 (2022, 2024, 2026) Wang Chuqin Male China 2000 1 (2025) 2 (2019, 2023) 3 (2021, 2023, 2025) 4 (2018, 2022, 2024, 2026)

See also List of World Table Tennis Championships medalists Table tennis at the Summer Olympics Table Tennis World Cup ITTF World Tour ITTF World Tour Grand Finals

References

External links

ITTF Museum