24 Teams Advance in Championship Live Table After Stage 1B
Twenty-four men’s teams and 24 women’s teams moved out of the championship live table after Stage 1B at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London 2026, with the Copper Box Arena sorting the field over four days. The cut sent the qualifiers into Stage 2 and the Round of 32 picture, while some runners-up were pushed into the Preliminary Round play-offs instead.
Copper Box Arena groups
Groups 3-14 produced the teams that kept playing and the teams that had to wait. Egypt swept Group 3 with three straight 3-0 wins over Algeria, Belgium and another opponent, while Belgium finished second and moved to the Preliminary Round. Hong Kong China took Group 4 after beating the Netherlands 3-1, Mexico 3-0 and Macau 3-0, and the Netherlands also advanced as one of the highest performing second-placed teams.
Brazil won Group 5 with 3-1 victories over Kazakhstan and Czechia, plus a 3-0 win over Mongolia. Kazakhstan went to the Preliminary Round from that group. India and Ukraine both advanced from Group 6 after India beat Ukraine 3-2, and Sweden and Canada also moved through from Group 7 after Sweden edged Canada 3-2.
Wales, Portugal, Italy
Charlotte Carey helped Wales secure Stage 2 from Group 11 by beating Australia 3-2 in the final group match. Australia dropped into the Preliminary Round after that result. Portugal and Luxembourg both qualified from Group 10, with Portugal beating Luxembourg 3-0 when the teams met, while the USA and Malaysia also moved on from Group 12 after the USA won 3-1.
Italy finished Group 13 without dropping a match, beating Argentina, Croatia and Turkiye 3-0 to advance cleanly. Croatia still reached the Preliminary Rounds after 3-0 wins over Argentina and a 3-2 victory against Turkiye. Austria and Puerto Rico then both qualified directly from Group 14, with Austria beating Puerto Rico 3-1 when they met.
Serbia and DPR Korea
Serbia topped Group 8 with a 3-0 win over Benin, a 3-2 win over Thailand and a 3-1 win over Slovenia. Thailand finished second and went to the Preliminary Round. DPR Korea won Group 9 with 3-0 wins over Poland, Congo Democratic and Spain, sending Poland into the Preliminary Round.
That left the Stage 1B balance clear: direct qualifiers, high-performing runners-up, and preliminary-round survivors all came out of the same four-day shift at the Copper Box Arena. For teams such as Wales, India, Sweden and Italy, the work already paid off in a place in Stage 2; for Belgium, Kazakhstan, Australia, Poland and Thailand, the next step is a playoff route instead of a direct pass through.
