China has been drawn into Group 1 and will face Sweden, Costa Rica and Hong Kong, China in the group stage at the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup starting Monday in Chengdu.
CHENGDU, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The draw for the first stage of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Mixed Team World Cup took place here on Sunday.
A total of 18 teams have been divided into four groups, with the winner and runner-up of each group advancing to the second stage.
Host nation China is in Group 1 with Sweden, Puerto Rico, and Hong Kong (China).
World No. 1 Fan Zhendong expressed enthusiasm about the challenge of competing in the new format for the first time.
"I'm very happy to attend this important event for this innovative new format. I hope I can make great achievements together with our team China," said Fan.
Group 2 features Germany, Portugal, Egypt and Slovakia.
Japan and France are the favorites to advance from Group 3, which also features Romania, the United States and Australia.
In Group 4, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Singapore, India and Canada will compete for the top two spots to qualify.
In the second stage, the top eight teams will be grouped into a single group. Results from the first stage will still count, meaning that teams that faced each other earlier in the week will not face each other again.
Under the new format, matches will begin with mixed doubles, followed by women's singles and men's singles, while players who played mixed doubles will be barred from singles matches. ■
