Game On for USA at ITTF World Teams Championships 2026 Today
Share:
by Joshua Dyke
It all begins today for the United States at the ITTF World Teams Championships 2026 in London, England.
The Americans face a challenging 13-day competition as the event celebrates its 100th anniversary. A total of 128 world-class teams will compete across the Men’s and Women’s Team Championships, all chasing a podium finish.
Group-stage play is underway at the Copper Box Arena. For the U.S. Women, Lily Zhang leads a young and talented women’s squad alongside Sally Moyland, Jessica Reyes-Lai, Irene Yeoh and Tashiya Piyadasa.
They were scheduled to open against Namibia (Lian Gebauer, Cadence Farmer, and Justina Namupolo) today. The match between the United States and Namibia was declared a forfeit loss for Namibia due to failure to appear at the table. The United States moves forward to face the Dominican Republic and Malaysia next in their group stage matches.
In Men’s Group 14, Kanak Jha Nandan Naresh, Jishan Liang, Daniel Tran, and Alex Luo are representing the red, white and blue.
They face Côte d’Ivoire led by Oba Kizito Oba and Ben Moussa Dosso on April 29 at 5:00 a.m. ET / 2:00 a.m. PT, with Singapore and Angola to follow in group play.
Each of the 64 teams competing in the men's and women's categories has been divided into 16 groups of four teams. Stage 1a is where the top two seeded groups, which include the top seven teams as well as the hosts, England. Stage 1b is where the remaining teams compete.
The opening round, known as Stage 1b, features 14 groups of four teams each competing once. Stage 2 is open to the top six second-place teams (based on win-loss ratios in both team and individual games) and the 14 group winners. Four further qualifiers are determined by an additional preliminary round of matches between the remaining eight second-place teams.
Stage 1a, takes place as a seeding round with two groups of four teams playing each other once. All eight teams progress to Stage 2.
Stage 2 is where the main draw starts, with a knockout single-elimination bracket reducing teams from the round of 32 onwards to the final.
Each team match consists of a best-of-five singles format, with the match ending when one team secures three individual matches.
As the action unfolds at the ITTF World Team Championships Finals 2026, the United States enters with determination and opportunity. Each match against this deep global field will put their resilience to the test. With developing talent and experienced leadership on both squads, the United States is well-positioned to contend in London for the centennial championship.
UPDATE: This story was updated at 12:15 p.m. ET to reflect the walkover win against the Namibian women's team.
