2021 World Table Tennis Championships

2021 World Table Tennis Championships
VenueGeorge R. Brown Convention Center
LocationHouston, United States
Dates23–29 November 2021
Competitors265 from 56[1] nations
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Events at the 2021
World Championships
Singlesmenwomen
Doublesmenmixedwomen

The 2021 World Table Tennis Championships was held in Houston, United States from 23 to 29 November.[2][3] It was the 56th edition of the championships and the first time the competition was held in the United States. Houston became the host by beating Agadir, Morocco in 2019.[4]

The International Table Tennis Federation originally planned regional and continental stage events for the qualification purpose of the Championships finals in Houston.[5] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no regional and continental stage events were held before the Championships finals. The ITTF decided the qualifications were mainly based on the world rankings published on 8 June (week 23) and 25 June (week 24). Six member associations (China, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Germany, South Korea and Hong Kong) were eligible to have five entries in singles events and four players in doubles events (with a maximum of two combined pairs with another member association).

Five individual events were contested.[6] All events were played as a single-elimination tournament. The first round of singles events had 128 places and doubles events had 64 places. Singles matches were best of seven games and doubles matches were best of five. Reigning champions Ma Long, Liu Shiwen and Xu Xin did not defend their titles at the event as China opted to send younger players in preparation for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[7]

  1. ^ "Participants from ITTF Member Associations". World Table Tennis. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  2. ^ Houston, Michael (20 August 2021). "Logo launched as Houston marks 100 days until World Table Tennis Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  3. ^ "World Table Tennis Championships confirmed for Houston, November 2021". ITTF. 13 April 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Houston, Chengdu to host World Table Tennis Championships". AFP. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  5. ^ "2021 WTTC Pathway" (PDF). ITTF. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  6. ^ "2021 World Table Tennis Championships Playing System" (PDF). ITTF. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  7. ^ Berkeley, Geoff (26 October 2021). "Star trio to miss World Table Tennis Championships as China set sights on Paris 2024". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 7 November 2021.