After waiting 26 years for a defeat for China men, two have come along in successive matches, with Sweden following Korea Republic’s lead from last night in taking down the defending champions.

It started with a hint that ‘normal service’ had been resumed by China as world No 1 Wang Chuqin defeated Anton Kallberg 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-6).

Elias Ranefur led Lin Shidong 2-0, saw him come back to 2-2, but held his nerve to complete a 3-2 (11-9, 11-6, 3-11, 6-11, 11-9).

Truls Moregard then saved a match point and beat Liang Jingkun 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 3-11, 12-10), but Wang sent it to a decider by beating Ranefur 3-0 (12-10, 11-6, 11-4).

And so to Kallberg versus Lin, a tight and dramatic tussle which saw Kallberg (pictured above) win 3-1 (12-10, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8) to send Sweden to three Stage 1a wins out of three and top of Group 1.

Also in session 1 on Sunday, there were no difficulties for China women, who defeated Korea Republic 3-0 without dropping a game to finish top of Group 1.

Japan women had to come from 1-0 down to beat Germany in Group 2 after Sabine Winter had beaten Honoka Hashimoto 3-2 (9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8).

Miwa Harimoto levelled with a 3-0 (11-4, 12-10, 11-7) win over Annett Kaufmann and Hina Hayata then beat Han Ying 3-1 (11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5). Harimoto completed the victory with a 3-1 (11-6, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7) scoreline against Winter.

In session two of Sundays play, hundreds of fans saw the final group stage matches of Stage 1a, ahead of the draw for the last 32 at the 2026 ITTF World Team Championships, and what a session it was.

It was Group 2 that stole the show as Japan and France faced off with the top spot in the group in the French’s hands, where a win would see them top the group. Japanese powerhouses Sora Matushima and Tomokazu Harimoto put the second seeds into a 2-0 lead with victories over Alexis & Felix Lebrun respectively. It was youngster Falvien Coton who launched a comeback for ‘les bleus’ with a 3-2 victory over Shunsuke Togami. Felix levelled the scores, before older brother Alexis Lebrun defeated Matushima in a 3-2 classic.

Chinese Taipei rounded off their group campaign with a victory over Germany who were also looking to contest for top spot but. now find themselves finishing third due to the loss against their final opponents. Benedikt Duda got Germany off to a great start with a win over Feng Yi-Hsin, but it was Yi-Hsin who had the last laugh as he defeated Dang Qiu 3-2 to give their team the 3-1 victory.

Romania Women’s secured second place in Group 1 with a victory over Chinese Taipei who finished third thanks to victories from each of the three players, Andrea Dragoman, Elizabeta Samara and Bernadette Szocs, who lost her opening encounter to Peng Yu-Han to give Chinese Taipei their rubber.