Lausanne, Nov 13, 2014: The 12 men’s and women’s teams that will contest for the ITTF 2015 World Team Cup in Dubai on 8-11 January 2015 has been announced by the International Table Tennis Federation.
This is the second time Dubai has hosted the prestigious team event, after successfully hosting it back in 2010.
The 12 teams are made up of six continental teams who qualified as champions of their respective Continental Championships, an additional five teams who finished in the highest positions at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Table Tennis Championships, plus one team from the United Arab Emirates.
China will again be the heavy favorites to clinch gold in both the men’s and women’s event, just as they did in the previous edition held in Guangzhou, China in 2013.
Despite China winning in Guangzhou, the headlines were made by a spirited Egyptian men’s team, who shocked the world to claim the bronze medal. The historic medal even earned them a reception with the Egyptian President.
Egypt will be looking to repeat this amazing performance in Dubai, with their men’s and women’s team both qualifying for the 2015 event through Africa.
At the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Table Tennis Championships, German star Timo BOLL announced that this German team is the best of all time. They fell short of the gold medal in Tokyo losing to China, but they will have another chance to topple the Chinese powerhouses in Dubai, with their once-in-a-generation line up.
Despite their strong team, Germany will not be going to Dubai with the title of the current European Champions, as Portugal beat them in a dramatic final to deny Germany their 7th European Championships title in a row, which secured Portugal’s passage to Dubai.
With Germany being biggest challengers to China in the men’s event, Japan and Singapore will push China all the way in the women’s after strong performances at London 2012 and the recent World Championships.
The format of the World Team Cup is different from the World Team Championships, as it follows the same format as the team event at the Olympic Games. Each team can nominate a team of up to five players, who play up to four singles and one doubles match, until a team wins three matches.
The invited teams are as follows:
• Men (Continental Champions): China (Asia), Portugal (Europe), Canada (North America), Brazil (Latin America), Egypt (Africa), Australia (Oceania)
• Men (World Championships): Germany, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Austria, Korea
• Men (Host Association): United Arab Emirates
• Women (Continental Champions): China (Asia), Germany (Europe), Canada (North America), Brazil (Latin America), Egypt (Africa), Australia (Oceania)
• Women (World Championships): Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, DPR Korea, Romania
• Women (Host Association): United Arab Emirates
Prior to the 2015 ITTF World Team Cup, the ITTF will be hosting the Dubai 2014 ITTF Star awards on 7 January 2015 at the Armani Hotel. The ITTF Star awards rewards the best players from the 2014 season in a night of glitz and glamour. More information on the Dubai ITTF Star
Awards can be found here:http://bit.ly/1wNmchI.
To apply for media accreditation for the ITTF 2015 World Team Cup, please fill out this form:http://bit.ly/1wW7IfG —- ITTF
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