ITTF Men's and Women's World Cup Macao 2026 presented by Galaxy Entertainment Group kicked off

MACAU, March 30 - 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, started today (30 March) at the Galaxy Arena, officially kicking off with a series of opening group stage matches. Several Chinese players got off to a flying start, securing victories to kick off the tournament.

The ITTF Men’s World Cup and Women’s World Cup each featured 16 group matches today. Defending champion, Chinese player Sun Yingsha, secured an opening victory against Chinese Taipei’s Li Yu-Jhun with a straight-game win (11-3, 11-4, 11-9). World number two Wang Manyu eased to her first win by defeating Portugal’s Fu Yu 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-6). Meanwhile, Kuai Man held a 2-0 lead over France’s Charlotte Lutz before her opponent stormed back to level the match; however, she withstood the pressure in the deciding game to snatch her opening win. Fellow Chinese athletes Wang Yidi and Chen Xingtong both secured their first wins with comfortable 3-0 scorelines.

As for the Men's World Cup group matches, Zhou Qihao took the lead with an 11-7 win in the first game, before Japan's U19 World Youth champion Ryuusei Kawakami hit back in the second game (9-11). Zhou then secured the next two games 11-8 and 11-9 to win 3-1 overall. Meanwhile, Chen Yuanyu cruised to a 4-0 victory (11-9, 11-4, 11-8, 11-3) against New Zealand's Timothy Choi.

Two players of Macao, China made their appearances on the opening day. Male player Mak Tin Ian fell 1-3 (8-11, 13-11, 4-11, 9-11) to Japan’s Shunsuke Togami, while female player Leong On Na was defeated 1-3 (7-11, 11-6, 6-11, 9-11) by Cheng I-Ching of Chinese Taipei.

Furthermore, Japan’s Miwa Harimoto and Mima Ito, Korea Republic’s Shin Yubin, Puerto Rico’s Adriana Díaz, France’s Simon Gauzy, Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov, and Sweden’s Anton Källberg all secured victories.

The Men’s World Cup results on 30 March are as follows:

The Women’s World Cup results on 30 March are as follows:

A host of leading male players are set to open their campaign in the Men’s World Cup tomorrow (31 March). China’s Wang Chuqin will face Romania’s Eduard Ionescu, Brazil’s Hugo Calderano faced Lubomir Jancarik of Czechia, while Sweden’s Truls Moregard squared off against Korea Republic’s Park Ganghyeon. In the Women’s World Cup, Chinese player Qin Yuxuan will face Germany’s Annett Kaufmann, while Hong Kong, China's Doo Hoi Kem takes on Poland’s Natalia Bajor, and Romania’s Bernadette Szocs goes up against Algeria’s Tania Morice. Mak Tin Ian and Leong On Na of Macao, China will face Denmark’s Anders Lind and Egypt’s Hana Goda respectively.

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.