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From April 15 to 21, 2024, the ITTF World Cup will resume in Macao, China for the first time in three years. 96 of the world's best players from around the world will compete in a spectacular showdown at Galaxy Macau Arena.
This year's Macau World Cup is unlike any of the previous editions, with a prize fund of up to US$1 million and a total of 96 participants (48 in men's and women's singles). According to the new format, each association is allowed to compete with four people, and 2023 world champions Fan Zhendong and Sun Yingsha, 2023 U19 world champions Lin Shidong and Kuo Man are automatically qualified. Thanks to this, the national table tennis team sent a 12-member super team to participate in the Macau World Cup.
List of national table tennis squads
Men's Singles: Name, Wang Chuqin, Liang Jingkun, Ma Long, Yi, Lin Shidong
#陈子颖莎, Wang Manyu, Nick, Wang Yidi, Chen Xingtong, Kui Man
Macau World Cup schedule
There are 48 players each for men and women, divided into 16 groups.
15-17 Group stage (4 games) 09:30, 17:00
18th Top 16 Knockout Round (Seven Wins Four) 11:00, 18:00
19th Top 8 Knockout Round (Seven Wins Four) 11:00, 18:00
20th Semifinals (7 wins 4) 18:00
21st Final Day (7 wins 4) 19:30
Highlights of the Macau World Cup national table tennis competition
1. Wang Manyu and Chen Meng, who is the second women's singles in national table tennis?
The results of this year's Macao World Cup are related to the competition for tickets to the Paris Olympics for national table tennis players. According to the new rules for the selection of the National Table Tennis Olympic Park: 3,000 points will be deducted if you do not qualify for the group stage of the ITTF World Cup, 3,000 points will be deducted for each loss in the ITTF World Cup, and 6,000 points will be deducted for two losses. At present, the competition between Wang Manyu and Chen Meng for the "second women's singles of national table tennis" has entered a white heat, and the tickets for Liang Jingkun and Ma Long's Olympic men's team are undecided. I believe that the national table tennis will definitely attach great importance to this competition.
2. Can Fan Zhendong break the 9-month championship panic and achieve 4 consecutive World Cup titles?
Since winning the men's singles championship in Ljubljana in July 2023, Fan Zhendong has missed the singles championship for 9 consecutive months, and recently lost to Brazil's Hugo in the WTT Incheon Championships, becoming the first main force in national table tennis to be deducted 1,000 points. In the face of Wang Chuqin, who has retired and returned to the tournament and is ranked No. 1 in the world, and Liang Jingkun, who has just won the championship, can Fan Zhendong, who is in a slump, win the title again at the 2024 Macau Singles World Cup and achieve a four-match World Cup?
3. Can Sun Yingsha become the player with the shortest time to a Grand Slam?
The ITTF World Cup is known as one of the "three major competitions" in table tennis (the Olympic Games, the World Championships, and the World Cup), and is an important part of an athlete's achievement in a personal Grand Slam. Sun Yingsha has already won the women's singles championship at the World Table Tennis Championships in Durban in 2023, if Sun Yingsha wins the women's singles championship of the Macau World Cup on April 21 and the Olympic women's singles championship on August 3, then Sun Yingsha will break Zhang Jike's record of 445 days in 432 days and become the player with the shortest time to achieve a Grand Slam in the international table tennis world.