2018 ITTF Men's World Cup

The 2018 ITTF Men's World Cup was a table tennis competition held in Paris, France, from 19 to 21 October 2018. It was the 39th edition of the ITTF-sanctioned event, and the third time that it had been staged in Paris.[1]

2018 ITTF Men's World Cup
Venue	Disneyland Paris
Location	Paris, France
Date	19–21 October
Competitors	20 from 14 nations
Website	tt2018paris.com
Medalists
Fan Zhendong   Timo Boll   Lin Gaoyuan

In the final, China's Fan Zhendong defeated Timo Boll of Germany, 4–1, to win his second World Cup title.[2]

Qualification

In total, 20 players qualified for the World Cup:[3][4]

• 18 players from the five Continental Cups held during 2018
• A host association representative
• A wild card, selected by the ITTF

A maximum of two players from each association could qualify.

As reigning World Champion, China's Ma Long was invited to take part, but withdrew prior to the event. His place was taken by Lin Gaoyuan.[5]

Means of qualification	Date	Venue	Places	Qualified players
2018 Europe Top 16 Cup	3–4 February 2018	Montreux	3	Timo Boll Dimitrij Ovtcharov Jonathan Groth
2018 ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup	1–3 March 2018	Nairobi	1	Quadri Aruna[nb 1]
2018 ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup	6–8 April 2018	Yokohama	3	Fan Zhendong Lin Gaoyuan Lee Sang-su
2018 ITTF-Oceania Cup	18–19 May 2018	Port Vila	1	Hu Heming
2018 ITTF Pan-America Cup	15–17 June 2018	Asunción	2	Hugo Calderano Gustavo Tsuboi
Additional qualifiers[nb 2]	n/a	n/a	8	Jeong Sang-eun Tomokazu Harimoto Koki Niwa Wong Chun Ting Vladimir Samsonov Mattias Falck Kanak Jha Panagiotis Gionis
Host association representative	n/a	n/a	1	Simon Gauzy
ITTF wild card	n/a	n/a	1	Emmanuel Lebesson
Total			20

Notes

1. Egypt's Omar Assar won the Africa Cup, but Quadri Aruna (as runner-up) qualified for the World Cup as the Africa Cup representative when Assar withdrew.
2. Based on Continental Cup finishing position and ITTF World Ranking on 1 July 2018.

Competition format

The tournament consisted of two stages: a preliminary group stage and a knockout stage. The players seeded 9 to 20 were drawn into four groups, with three players in each group. The top two players from each group joined the top eight seeded players in the second stage of the competition, which consisted of a knockout draw.[3]

Seeding

The seeding list was based on the official ITTF world ranking for October 2018.[3]

1. Fan Zhendong (Champion)
2. Timo Boll (Final)
3. Dimitrij Ovtcharov (Semifinals)
4. Lin Gaoyuan (Semifinals)
5. Lee Sang-su (Quarterfinals)
6. Tomokazu Harimoto (Quarterfinals)
7. Wong Chun Ting (First round)
8. Koki Niwa (Quarterfinals)
9. Hugo Calderano (Preliminary round)
10. Simon Gauzy (First round)
11. Jeong Sang-eun (First round)
12. Jonathan Groth (First round)
13. Mattias Falck (First round)
14. Quadri Aruna (Preliminary round)
15. Vladimir Samsonov (Quarterfinals)
16. Gustavo Tsuboi (First round)
17. Emmanuel Lebesson (First round)
18. Kanak Jha (First round)
19. Panagiotis Gionis (Preliminary round)
20. Hu Heming (Preliminary round)

Preliminary stage

The preliminary group stage took place on 19 October, with the top two players in each group progressing to the main draw.[6]

Group A Samsonov Lebesson Calderano Points 15 V. Samsonov 4–2 4–1 4 17 E. Lebesson 2–4 4–3 3 9 Hugo Calderano 1–4 3–4 2

Group B Gauzy Jha Aruna Points 10 Simon Gauzy 4–0 4–3 4 18 Kanak Jha 0–4 4–2 3 14 Quadri Aruna 3–4 2–4 2

Group C Jeong Tsuboi Gionis Points 11 Jeong Sang-eun 4–0 4–1 4 16 Gustavo Tsuboi 0–4 4–1 3 19 Panagiotis Gionis 1–4 1–4 2

Group D Groth Falck Hu Points 12 Jonathan Groth 4–3 4–0 4 13 Mattias Falck 3–4 4–0 3 20 Hu Heming 0–4 0–4 2

Main draw

The knockout stage took place from 20–21 October.[7]

	First round											Quarterfinals											Semifinals											Final
	1	Fan Zhendong	11	11	11	11
	16	Gustavo Tsuboi	7	9	6	8						1	Fan Zhendong	11	11	12	11
	15	Vladimir Samsonov	11	12	11	7	11					15	Vladimir Samsonov	3	6	10	6
	7	Wong Chun Ting	6	10	9	11	7																1	Fan Zhendong	10	12	15	11	11
	8	Koki Niwa	11	11	4	12	11																4	Lin Gaoyuan	12	10	13	7	6
	12	Jonathan Groth	8	5	11	10	5					8	Koki Niwa	10	11	12	9	5
	18	Kanak Jha	8	11	7	6	3					4	Lin Gaoyuan	12	5	14	11	11
	4	Lin Gaoyuan	11	6	11	11	11																											1	Fan Zhendong	11	11	11	9	11
	3	Dimitrij Ovtcharov	11	4	7	13	11	5	12																									2	Timo Boll	9	5	6	11	8
	13	Mattias Falck	5	11	11	11	3	11	10			3	Dimitrij Ovtcharov	11	11	11	9	5	11	11
	10	Simon Gauzy	6	11	11	7	11	8	8			5	Lee Sang-su	7	5	13	11	11	5	5
	5	Lee Sang-su	11	4	6	11	6	11	11														3	Dimitrij Ovtcharov	14	7	13	11	11	5				Third place
	6	Tomokazu Harimoto	11	11	11	11																	2	Timo Boll	12	11	15	9	13	11
	11	Jeong Sang-eun	6	6	7	7						6	Tomokazu Harimoto	11	3	11	5	9																4	Lin Gaoyuan	11	11	9	11	11
	17	Emmanuel Lebesson	8	11	8	5	7					2	Timo Boll	9	11	13	11	11																3	Dimitrij Ovtcharov	7	9	11	4	3
	2	Timo Boll	11	8	11	11	11

See also

• 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships
• 2018 ITTF World Tour
• 2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
• 2018 ITTF Women's World Cup
• 2018 ITTF Team World Cup

References

1. "Return to France, return to Paris". ITTF. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
2. "Dreamland for Fan Zhendong". ITTF. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
3. "Qualification and Playing System / Men's and Women's World Cup" (PDF). ITTF. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
4. "Confirmed list of players Liebherr 2018 ITTF Men ́s World Cup" (PDF). ITTF. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
5. "Top players descend on Disneyland Paris for ITTF Men's World Cup". InsideTheGames. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
6. "Liebherr 2018 ITTF Men´s World Cup / Results / Group stage". ITTF. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
7. "Liebherr 2018 ITTF Men´s World Cup / Results / Knockout stage". ITTF. Retrieved 29 December 2018.

External links

• Tournament page on ITTF website