Wang Chuqin lays down a marker with opening win
The ITTF Men's and Women's World Cup Macao 2026 presented by Galaxy Entertainment Group, sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), organized by the Sports Bureau, Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) and World Table Tennis Management Group Limited (WTMG), and co-organized by the Macau Table Tennis General Association, continued today (31 March) at the Galaxy Arena, entered the second day of the group stage matches.
In the Men’s World Cup, world number one Wang Chuqin of China eased to a 3-0 victory (11-8, 11-7, 11-1) over Romania’s Eduard Ionescu. World number two Truls Moregard of Sweden secured a 3-1 (12-10, 5-11, 11-3, 11-6) win against Korea Republic’s Park Ganghyeon, while defending champion Hugo Calderano of Brazil claimed a 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-2) victory over Czechia's Lubomir Jancarik. Chinese player Liang Jingkun experienced a rough start to the campaign, falling to Argentina’s Horacio Cifuentes 2-3 (11-5, 7-11, 8-11, 11-4, 8-11) in a grueling five-game battle, and must now defeat Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov tomorrow to keep his hopes of a place in the knockout stage alive.
In the Women’s World Cup, Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong, China prevailed in a 3-2 win (10-12, 11-8, 11-5, 6-11, 11-6) over Poland’s Natalia Bajor. China’s Qin Yuxuan won automatically after her opponent, Annett Kaufmann of Germany, was forced to withdraw due to injury.
Representing Macao, China, both Mak Tin Ian and Leong On Na were eliminated after suffering 0-3 defeats against Denmark’s Anders Lind and Egypt’s Hana Goda, respectively.
The Men’s World Cup results on 31 March are as follows:
|
Group |
Match |
Result |
|
Group 1 |
WANG Chuqin (China) vs Eduard IONESCU (Romania) |
3-0 |
|
Group 2 |
Truls MOREGARD (Sweden) vs PARK Ganghyeon (Korea Republic) |
3-1 |
|
Group 3 |
Hugo CALDERANO (Brazil) vs Lubomir JANCARIK (Czechia) |
3-0 |
|
Group 4 |
Tomokazu HARIMOTO (Japan) vs Milosz REDZIMSKI (Poland) |
3-1 |
|
Group 5 |
LIN Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei) vs Mehdi BOULOUSSA (Algeria) |
3-0 |
|
Group 6 |
Sora MATSUSHIMA (Japan) vs Quadri ARUNA (Nigeria) |
3-0 |
|
Group 7 |
Felix LEBRUN (France) vs FENG Yi-Hsin (Chinese Taipei) |
3-1 |
|
Group 8 |
JANG Woojin (Korea Republic) vs CHANG Yu-An (Chinese Taipei) |
3-0 |
|
Group 9 |
LIANG Jingkun (China) vs Horacio CIFUENTES (Argentina) |
2-3 |
|
Group 10 |
Alexis LEBRUN (France) vs LAM Siu Hang (Hong Kong, China) |
3-0 |
|
Group 11 |
Benedikt DUDA (Germany) vs Eugene WANG (Canada) |
3-2 |
|
Group 12 |
Dang QIU (Germany) vs Dean SHU (New Zealand) |
3-0 |
|
Group 13 |
Darko JORGIC (Slovenia) vs Timothy CHOI (New Zealand) |
3-0 |
|
Group 14 |
Anders LIND (Denmark) vs MAK Tin Ian (Macao, China) |
3-0 |
|
Group 15 |
WEN Ruibo (China) vs Stephane OUAICHE (Algeria) |
3-1 |
|
Group 16 |
Patrick FRANZISKA (Germany) vs Ryuusei KAWAKAMI (Japan) |
3-1 |
The Women’s World Cup results on 31 March are as follows:
|
Group |
Match |
Result |
|
Group 1 |
Dina MESHREF (Egypt) vs LI Yu-Jhun (Chinese Taipei) |
0-3 |
|
Group 2 |
Sreeja AKULA (India) vs Fu YU (Portugal) |
1-3 |
|
Group 3 |
YEH Yi-Tian (Chinese Taipei) vs Andreea DRAGOMAN (Romania) |
3-1 |
|
Group 4 |
Lily ZHANG (U.S.A.) vs Manika BATRA (India) |
2-3 |
|
Group 5 |
QIN Yuxuan (China) vs Annett KAUFMANN (Germany) |
3-0 |
|
Group 6 |
DOO Hoi Kem (Hong Kong, China) vs Natalia BAJOR (Poland) |
3-2 |
|
Group 7 |
Amy WANG (U.S.A.) vs Charlotte LUTZ (France) |
1-3 |
|
Group 8 |
Elizabeta SAMARA (Romania) vs Mo ZHANG (Canada) |
0-3 |
|
Group 9 |
Yangzi LIU (Australia) vs Xiaona SHAN (Germany) |
2-3 |
|
Group 10 |
ZENG Jian (Singapore) vs Linda BERGSTROM (Sweden) |
3-1 |
|
Group 11 |
Sofia POLCANOVA (Austria) vs Jocelyn LAM (New Zealand) |
3-0 |
|
Group 12 |
Anna HURSEY (Wales) vs Mariam ALHODABY (Egypt) |
3-1 |
|
Group 13 |
KIM Nayeong (Korea Republic) vs Chunli LI (New Zealand) |
3-1 |
|
Group 14 |
Hana GODA (Egypt) vs LEONG On Na (Macao, China) |
3-0 |
|
Group 15 |
Prithika PAVADE (France) vs Maylis GIRET (New Caledonia) |
3-0 |
|
Group 16 |
Bernadette SZOCS (Romania) vs Tania MORICE (Algeria) |
3-1 |
The group stage will conclude tomorrow (1 April) as players fight for a spot in the knockout stage. A host of Chinese athletes will be in action, with Wang Chuqin facing Australia's Finn Luu, Liang Jingkun taking on Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Zhou Qihao against Germany’s Patrick Franziska, Wen Ruibo versus France’s Simon Gauzy, and Chen Yuanyu competing against Germany’s Dang Qiu. Sun Yingsha meets Egypt’s Dina Meshref, Wang Manyu takes on India’s Sreeja Akula, Chen Xingtong takes on Chinese Taipei’s Yeh Yi-Tian, Kuai Man faces Amy Wang of the U.S.A., Wang Yidi against Hong Kong, China’s Doo Hoi Kem, and Qin Yuxuan against Japan’s Hina Hayata. Other matches feature Brazil’s Hugo Calderano against Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson and Japan’s Miwa Harimoto against Lily Zhang of the U.S.A.
Additionally, with the event underway in Macao, the organizers arranged a special site visit for local students to go behind the scenes of the ITTF World Cup. The students toured places such as the event arena, the media centre, and the TV production studio, and interacted with China’s athlete Xu Yingbin and Macao, China’s athlete Mak Tin Ian, allowing the students to broaden their horizons and experience the prestige of international events hosted in Macao.
Ticket sales have received an overwhelming response from the public. A limited number of tickets are available on Damai application & mini program and Galaxy Ticketing, and with a maximum of four tickets per person per transaction. Every spectator at or over 1.2m in height must show their ticket for admission. Children who are shorter than 1.2m in height and do not occupy a seat can enter the venue free of charge when accompanied by a paying adult; each adult can only bring along one child with free admission.
For more details, please visit the ITTF website at www.ittf.com or the Sports Bureau’s website at www.sport.gov.mo, or follow the “Macao Major Sporting Events” Facebook page, “澳門體育” (Macao Sports) WeChat public account and “澳門特區體育局” (Macao SAR Sports Bureau) WeChat subscription account.
