| World Table Tennis Championships | |
| Status: | Active |
| Genre: | Global sports event |
| Date: | c. April–May |
| Frequency: | Annual |
| Organised: | ITTF |
The World Table Tennis Championships are table tennis competitions sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The World Championships have been held since 1926, biennially since 1957. Five individual events, which include men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's double and mixed doubles, are currently held in odd numbered years. The World Team Table Tennis Championships, which include men's team and women's team events, were first their own competition in 2000. The Team Championships are held in even numbered years.
In the earlier days of the tournament, Hungary's men's team was a dominant force, winning the championships 12 times. This was followed by a short period of dominance by Japan in the 1950s. From the 1960s onwards, China emerged as the new dominant power in this tournament and, with the exception of 1989–2000, when Sweden won four times, China continues to dominate the sport. China's men's team holds a record 23 world team championship titles.
In the 1950s, Japan's women team was a force to be reckoned with winning a total of 8 titles. The Chinese women started their strong grip on the world team championships from the 1970s onwards. They have only lost twice since 1975. China holds 23 women's team titles.
There are 7 different trophies presented to the winners of the various events, held by winning associations, and returned for the next world championships.[1]
In addition, the Egypt Cup is presented to the next host of world championships. The Cup was donated by King Farouk of Egypt in 1939, when the championships were held in Cairo, Egypt.
The ITTF held individual events and team events separately for the first time in 1999 and 2000 respectively, and 2001 was the last time individual and team events were held together. Starting in 2003 individual events and team events were held separately again and each continue to be held separately every other year.
Individual events Team events
Updated after the 2024 World Team Table Tennis Championships. Doubles pairs from different associations were counted as a half a point.
Top medalists ordered by number of gold medals at the World Table Tennis Championships (including at team events) are listed below.[6] 12 men won at least nine gold medals and 11 women with a minimum of eight.
| Rank | Player | Country | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1929 | 1954 | 22 | 7 | 12 | 41 | |||
| 2 | 1929 | 1937 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 24 | |||
| 3 | 2006 | 2024 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 19 | |||
| 4 | 1935 | 1955 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 30 | |||
| 5 | 1954 | 1965 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 20 | |||
| 6 | 1997 | 2013 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 20 | |||
| 7 | 2009 | 2019 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 13 | |||
| 8 | 1947 | 1957 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 27 | |||
| 9 | 1947 | 1961 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 26 | |||
| 10 | 1999 | 2013 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 20 | |||
| 11 | 2003 | 2014 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 16 | |||
| 12 | 2014 | 2024 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
| Rank | Player | Country | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1926 | 1936 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 28 | |||
| 2 | 1937 | 1957 | 17 | 5 | 8 | 30 | |||
| 3 | 1997 | 2008 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 20 | |||
| 4 | 1929 | 1935 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 21 | |||
| 5 | 1947 | 1959 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 27 | |||
| 6 | 2003 | 2013 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 17 | |||
| 7 | 1999 | 2009 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 16 | |||
| 8 | 2006 | 2016 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 16 | |||
| 9 | 1989 | 1997 | 9 | 5 | – | 14 | |||
| 10 | 2009 | 2019 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 16 | |||
| 11 | 2009 | 2019 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 15 |
See main article: world championships.
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