Hugo arrived last Friday in Macau, China, to compete in his fifth World Cup. The event, organized by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), will be held from April 15 to 21 at the Galaxy Arena. He starts the tournament on Monday (15) at 9am (Brasília time) against Australian Finn Luu. Hugo is in Group 8 and will face Denmark’s Anders Lind in the second and final round of the tournament.

Four years after the last edition, held in Weihai, China, the World Cup returns to the world table tennis calendar with important changes in the competition format.

PARTICIPANTS

The participation for the Men’s and Women’s World Cup in 2024  has increased from 16 to 48 players.

The reigning adult and under-19 world champions have qualified automatically, and the remaining 46 players  have qualified by performance in the continental cups or by world ranking.

COMPETITION SYSTEM

In the first stage, all players will be divided into 16 groups, each comprising three players who will compete in a round robin match

+ Read also: look back at Hugo’s results so far in 2024

The top four in the world ranking were automatically placed in Groups 1 to 4. Thus, China’s Wang Chuqin (1st), Fan Zhendong (2nd), Liang Jingkun (3rd) and Ma Long (4th) head the first four groups, respectively. The remaining players were drawn into the groups using a modified snake system drawing, four at a time in ranking order. To maximize diversity, players from the same association will not be placed in the same group.

Matches in Stage 1 will comprise four games, with scores resulting in 4-0, 3-1, or 2-2 outcomes. Final rankings will be determined based on win-loss ratios in games and then in points, if necessary.

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With just one qualifying spot available per group, every game and point in this stage becomes crucial. This format promises to bring even more excitement from the very first matches of the competition.

Following Stage 1, the top performer from each group will progress to Stage 2. The first-place finisher of Group 1 will be placed in position 1, first-place finisher of Group 2 will be placed in position 16, first-place finishers of Groups 3 and 4 will be drawn into positions 8 and 9, with the rest to be drawn randomly.  In this phase there will be no separation of players by association and the matches will be played in best of seven games.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

Check out the ranking points for the ITTF World Cup:

Champion: 1500 points
Runner-up: 1050 points
Semi-final: 525 points
Quarterfinal: 265 points
R16: 100 points
2nd in Group: 40 points
3nd in Group: 15 points

SCHEDULE

Check out the schedule for each day of competition:

Monday (15/04) – Round 1
Tuesday (16/04) – Round 2
Wednesday (17/04) – Round 3
Thursday (18/04) – R16
Friday (19/04) – Quarter-finals
Saturday (20/04) – Semi-finals
Sunday (21/04) – Final

The matches start at 9.30 a.m. local time (10.30 p.m. the day before Brasília time).  

HOW TO FOLLOW

The World Cup is scheduled to be broadcast on www.youtube.com/@ITTFWorld.

And, as always, we’ll also have our coverage on Team Calderano’s Instagram and Telegram channels!