The ITTF World Table Tennis Championships have produced countless iconic moments in the 100 years since they were first played in London.
Great stories unfold every year in front of passionate crowds as the world’s most talented table tennis athletes battle to secure the ultimate prize for their country or individually.
Head over to our Facebook or Instagram page now to tell us your favourite moments – below, we’ve chosen a few of ours to whet your appetite. We may have been a little biased towards England, but you have a free choice from 100 years of incredible table tennis!
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2016 Kuala Lumpur: England on the podium
We start with one fresh in the memory. It’s fair to say the England squad of Liam Pitchford, Paul Drinkhall and Sam Walker, captained by Alan Cooke, was not expected to win a medal in Malaysia – but the stars aligned and they got on a roll all the way to the semi-finals, falling to Japan after securing a bronze medal by beating France in the quarter-finals.
1947-48 Paris and London: England women rule the world
England took their first ever team world title in the first Worlds to be held after the Second World War – and they retained their title on home ground the following year.

1953 Bucharest: England men strike gold
World champions for the first and (so far) only time, a squad of legends including Johnny Leach and Richard Bergmann.
1954 London: Birthday champions
Twins Diane and Rosalind Rowe won the women’s doubles gold medal on their 21st birthday, defeating Kathy Best and Ann Haydon at Wembley in the only all-English final at a World Championships to date – as covered in the second half of the below video.
1971 Nagoya: Ping Pong Diplomacy
American Glenn Cowan accidentally boarded a bus with Chinese players. Zhuang Zedong’s gift of a silk-screen portrait initiated cultural exchange that helped thaw Cold War tensions. Following the tournament, the United States, Australia, Canada, Colombia, England, and Nigeria accepted invitations to visit China – an unexpected diplomatic breakthrough.
1991 Chiba: Unified Korea
A Unified Korea team struck gold in Japan – events later immortalised in the film As One.
1997 Manchester: Perfection
Jan-Ove Waldner won the men’s singles title without surrendering a single game – a feat never repeated in World Championships history.
And how about this one from the early years of the Worlds?
1936 Prague: The marathon
In the opening men’s team fixture between Poland and Romania, the first point between Alojzy Ehrlich and Farkas Paneth lasted two hours and 12 minutes. Later, the men’s team final started at 9.30pm on Sunday and by 3.30am, only two matches had been completed. Police reportedly stormed the hall and stopped play, with the fixture concluded days later.
Head over to our social channels now to add your favourites.


