Among the presentations at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London 2026 Presented by ACN was the handover ceremony to next year’s hosts Kazakhstan, plus more glory for China’s talismanic No 1s, and an award for an ITTF stalwart..

Table Tennis England Chair Clare Briegal MBE presented the official flag of the ITTF World Championships to ITTF President Petra Sörling to hand over in turn to a Kazakh delegation which included Daniyar Abulgazin, President of the Kazakhstan Table Tennis Federation. The Kazakh capital, Astana, will host the 2027 ITTF World Team Championships, when the individual competitions will be contested.

Kazakhstan also received the Egypt Cup, which was donated by King Farouk of Egypt during the 1939 World Championships in Cairo and is presented to the country which is to host the next World Championships.

Meanwhile, as well as receiving the Swaythling Cup and Corbillon Cup presented to the Men’s team and Women’s Team champions respectively, Chinese players were also presented with player-of-the-tournament accolades.

Richard Scruton, Chair of Table Tennis International Events presented the Victor Barna Award to Wang Chuqin and the Diane Schöler Award to Sun Yingsha.

Donated by Suzy Barna in 1973 following the unexpected death of her husband, the Swaythling Club founder president Victor Barna the previous year, the Victor Barna Award is presented to the leading male player in the ITTF World Team Championships. Kjell Johansson of Sweden was the first winner in 1973 at Sarajevo.

The Diane Schöler Award is presented to the leading female player in memory of Diane Schöler, former president of Swaythling Club International and who most famously, under her maiden name of Rowe, won the Women’s Doubles gold alongside her twin sister Rosalind at the 1954 Championships at Wembley.

The award was first made in 2024 at Busan and Sun Yingsha won it on that occasion as well as this year.

Another accolade awarded during the Championships was the presentation to ITTF stalwart Ian Marshall of the International Table Tennis Federation Merit Award

This recognition reflects many years of dedicated service to our sport and to the global table tennis community since he first joined the ITTF as editor in 1995.

Ian now lives in Jordan and ITTF Executive Vice-President HRH Princess Zeina Rashid said of him in a social media post: “For those of us in Jordan, Ian’s contribution carries a special meaning.

“Through his close connection to Jordan and his support for the development of table tennis in both Amman and Aqaba, his impact has been felt well beyond the international stage.

“A well-deserved honour for someone who has given so much to the sport.”