India among 66 teams to compete at Chengdu 2022 World TT Championships

The World Team Table Tennis Championships is set to return to action later this month after a fouryear hiatus due to the Covid19 pandemic and the International Table Tennis Federation ITTF unveiling the 66 teams including India that will be competing for titles This will be the only international sports competition in China this year after the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics as the country postponed the Asian Games 2022 and relinquished hosting rights of the Mens Asian Cup football scheduled in 2023 because of rising cases of CoronavirusWith the organisers proposing special measures for the event the ITTF unveiled the list of teams entries for the Chengdu 2022 World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals with Indian mens and womens teams in contention The tournament will be held between September 30 to October 9 The mens competition will feature 35 teams while 31 teams will compete in the womens categoryAlso Read US Open 2022 An emotional Serena Williams bids farewell to tennisFour years ago when the event was last held China took gold in the mens and womens events in Halmstad Sweden in 2018 The 2020 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Busan South Korea was cancelled due to the Covid19 pandemic China has taken the mens title at the last nine tournaments and will go in as the top seed In the womens draw China will be looking for its fifth consecutive title and enter the Chengdu competition as the worlds No 1 teamITTF president Petra Sorling expressed her gratitude to the Chinese Table Tennis Association CTTA the local organising committee and the city of Chengdu for making the event happen reports Xinhua As the countdown to Chengdu will soon come to an end all members of the table tennis family should feel extremely proud said Sorling The World Championships Finals in Chengdu will be an unforgettable experience which ultimately will bring our family together maybe closer than it has ever beenThe first stage draw is scheduled for September 28 Teams will arrive in Chengdu on September 26 via special flights chartered by the ITTF Participants at the World Championships Finals will stay in a bubble with official hotels being connected to the event venue via dedicated transport The ITTF CTTA and the organising committee are working on every detail to ensure a professional safe convenient and pleasant environment for all I would also like to thank the table tennis family for their support in the leadup to this event I believe Chengdu can become the link that deepens our friendship and brings us closer together commented Liu Guoliang executive vice president of the ITTF and World Table Tennis Director and Council ChairPlaying on home soil this year China will once again be the favourite to win the Swaythling and Marcel Corbillon CupsChina has taken the mens title on the last nine occasions and will go in as the top seed Germany as World No2 will be set on a breakthrough performance after making four finals in the previous five editions of the event Meanwhile Sweden was the last team outside of China to stand at the top of the mens podium and having produced silver medallists in consecutive Mens Singles World Championships will look for a return to their golden ageIn the womens draw China will be looking for its fifth consecutive title and enter Chengdu as the No1 team in the worldAlso Read US Open 2022 Stage set for tennis icon Serena WilliamsA spot behind them is Japan who have won silver at the last three championships and will look to their legacy for inspiration as the second most successful womens team of all time While the traditional continental powerhouses will be in action PanAmerica will also be eyeing the podium with most teams from that region competing for the titles in the modern staging of the event Africa will also be well represented and battling for medals with multiple teams ranked inside the Top 20 headed to Chengdu the ITTF said in a release on FridayThe teams will arrive in Chengdu on Monday 26 September via special flights chartered by the ITTF Participants at the World Championships Finals will be able to enter and leave Chengdu without quarantineThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever