The England men’s team began their Stage 2 knockout draw with a fixture against Moldova, who came through qualifying in the preliminary round with a huge victory over Greece 3-2. With the impressive Vladislav Ursu and Andrei Putuntica, this match is set to be a battle.

Sam Walker started the knockout campaign for the England side and he took on Moldova’s stand out number one, Vladislav Ursu (WR91), whose ranking doesn’t quite reflect his ability and his results on the international stage when representing Moldova. Sam got off to a quick start establishing a lead with some impressive counters and turning lobs into an attack, but Ursu fought back to take the opener 11-6. It was then the Moldovan man who took control of the fixture and raced to a 3-0 lead to put Moldova ahead.

Tom Jarvis was a man on a mission as he lead the England team out the tunnel ahead of the fixture and also stormed to a commanding victory over Andrei Putuntica 3-0. The current active England number one was dominant in his second victory at the 2026 World Championships, and a huge victory for the team and the nation, as he levels the score between the two sides and with the scores poised, set up a clash with Ursu as the two number ones are guaranteed to meet.

It was then the battle between the two number three’s, England called upon Connor Green once again, and was hoping for yet another impressive performance, this one with a little more on the line. It was Connor who raced ahead in the first, but wasn’t able to get over the line as Denis Terna took the first 11-9. Green as positive as ever never stops fighting for pride and for country, and leading 6-2 in the second end upped his game and took the second 11-6. Connor then powered on to take the game 3-1 and put England in touching distance of the last 16.

Then came the battle of the two number ones, Tom Jarvis took on Vladislav Ursu. It was Ursu who struck first as his whipping, left handed backhand seemed to dominate. Jarvis really went to work after a much needed word with the team and levelled the game. The Leopard then raced ahead holding three game points in the third, and held his nerve to take it 12-10, a vital moment in the match. At 8-3 down in the fourth it looked set that we would enter a decider. The England team should have had the loudest support in the hall, but the Moldovan supporters seemed to drown out the support, but this didn’t last long. Jarvis mounted a huge comeback which saw him take the victory 11-9 in the fourth, giving England their first victory at the championships.

Tin-Tin Ho got a deserved victory, but Ukraine proved too strong overall for England women as they ende their stay at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London 2026 Presented by ACN.

Tin-Tin Ho notched England’s first individual win of the Championships as defeated Tetyana Bilenko 3-1 (4-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7) – something to give her and her team-mates heart after coming so close a couple of times during Stage 1A.

It was a run of five points from 2-1 down in the second which ignited Ho’s match, and she was only briefly behind at the starts of games three and four as she put England one up.

Tianer Yu was giving up 238 places to world No 51 Margaryta Pesotska, and the defensive player had too much weaponry for the teenager, winning 3-0 (5, 6, 6).

The gap between Ella Pashley and Veronika Matiunina is 323 places but the Cleveland teenager again tackled her task with energy and skill and was edged out 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 – she led 8-5 and 9-7 in the second and also 9-7 in the fourth but could not press home the advantage and get a game on the board.

Pesotska, twice a European singles silver medallist, was then back on court to take on Ho, and again the English player was unable to get close enough and a 3-0 (4, 7, 8) victory sent Ukraine through to the last 16.

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By Alan Man, Michael Loveder and Sam Mellish