The Table Tennis World Cup has been held annually since 1980. There had been only men's singles until the inauguration of women's singles in 1996 and team competitions in 1990. The team competitions, the World Team Cup, were canceled until the relaunch in 2007, and now held in odd-numbered years. The competitions are sanctioned by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and classified as R1 in rating weightings, B2 in bonus weightings in the ITTF world ranking.^[1] Since 2021, the event has been replaced with the WTT Cup Finals.

Competition

Men's and Women's World Cups

Participants of the competition are composed of:^[2]

• The current holder of the World Cup.
• The World Champion.
• The champion player or the strongest current player from each of the 6 continents (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and Oceania).
• 1 player from the host association.
• The top 8 players from the world ranking list.
• 2 wild card selections.
  • No more than 2 players from an association unless a third is invited as a wild card.
  • If the World Champion and the World Cup title holder is the same player, or the host association has a player qualified as title holder or from the world ranking, the vacancy goes to the next highest eligible player on the world ranking list.

World Team Cup

• Top 7 associations at the preceding World Team Championships.
• If the team of the host association is not on the top 7 list, the team of the host association and 4 teams from continental federations would be represented at the event.

Former playing system

Men's and Women's World Cups

The playing system is determined by the executive committee on recommendation by the Competition Department.^[2] The 2009 World Cup was divided into 3 stages. All matches were the best of 7 games.^[3]

1. The Preliminary Stage- Intercontinental Cup: The 4 continental representatives from Africa, Latin America, North America and Oceania compete on a group basis with all the members of the group. The winner of this group joins the remaining 15 players in the 1st stage.
2. The 1st Stage- Group Stage: The 16 players are divided into 4 equal groups, with all the members of a group playing each other, and the group winners and runners-up advance towards the 2nd stage.
   1. The highest-ranked player is placed in Group A, the 2nd highest in Group B, the 3rd highest in Group C and the 4th highest in Group D. The remaining players are drawn into the 4 groups at a time in ranking order.
   2. If there are 2 players from the same association, they will be drawn into separate groups but the 3rd player from the same association may be drawn into any group.
3. The 2nd Stage- Knockout:
   1. Quarter Finals: 4 quarter finals (Q1-Q4) are arranged according to both the groups and the rankings in the 1st Stage. Q1-Q4 are as follows: A1 vs. B2, C1 vs. D2, D1 vs. C2, and B1 vs. A2.
   2. Semi-finals: the matches are winner of Q1 vs. winner of Q2, and winner of Q3 vs. winner of Q4.
   3. Winners of semi-finals enter the final, with the losers of the semi-finals competing for the third place.

World Team Cup

All team matches are played on the Olympic System with a maximum of 4 singles and 1 doubles. And all individual matches of a team match are the best of 5 games.^[2][4]

1. Intercontinental Cup: The 4 teams from continental federations not qualified by their ranking at the preceding World Team Championships shall compete in an Intercontinental Cup played on round-robin. Only one team survives.
2. Knockout: 7 teams qualified from World Team Championships and the host are seeded based on latest ITTF World Team Ranking. The winner of the Intercontinental Cup play a match against the lowest seeded of the other 8 teams, other than the host association's team. The winner of this match shall promote to final knockout. The top 4 seeds are separated in different matches in quarter-finals.

Winners

Men's singles

ITTF World Cup

Year	Host City	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1980	Hong Kong	Guo Yuehua	Li Zhenshi	Josef Dvoracek
1981	Kuala Lumpur	Tibor Klampár	Xie Saike	Guo Yuehua
1982	Hong Kong	Guo Yuehua	Mikael Appelgren	Xie Saike
1983	Barbados	Mikael Appelgren	Jan-Ove Waldner	Erik Lindh
1984	Kuala Lumpur	Jiang Jialiang	Kim Wan	Ulf Bengtsson
1985	Foshan	Chen Xinhua	Andrzej Grubba	Jiang Jialiang
1986	Port of Spain	Chen Longcan	Jiang Jialiang	Kim Wan
1987	Macao	Teng Yi	Jiang Jialiang	Andrzej Grubba
1988	Guangzhou & Wuhan	Andrzej Grubba	Chen Longcan	Jiang Jialiang
1989	Nairobi	Ma Wenge	Andrzej Grubba	Mikael Appelgren
1990	Chiba	Jan-Ove Waldner	Ma Wenge	Chen Longcan
1991	Kuala Lumpur	Jörgen Persson	Jean-Philippe Gatien	Jan-Ove Waldner
1992	Ho Chi Minh City	Ma Wenge	Kim Taek-soo	Yoo Nam-kyu
1993	Guangzhou	Zoran Primorac	Wang Tao	Wenguan Johnny Huang
1994	Taipei	Jean-Philippe Gatien	Jean-Michel Saive	Zoran Primorac
1995	Nimes	Kong Linghui	Jörg Roßkopf	Liu Guoliang
1996	Nimes	Liu Guoliang	Jan-Ove Waldner	Vladimir Samsonov
1997	Nimes	Zoran Primorac	Kong Linghui	Vladimir Samsonov
1998	Shantou	Jörg Roßkopf	Kim Taek-soo	Zoran Primorac
1999	Xiaolan	Vladimir Samsonov	Werner Schlager	Zoran Primorac
2000	Yangzhou	Ma Lin	Kim Taek-soo	Wang Liqin
2001	Courmayeur	Vladimir Samsonov	Wang Liqin	Jörg Roßkopf
2002	Jinan	Timo Boll	Kong Linghui	Zoran Primorac
2003	Jiangyin	Ma Lin	Kalinikos Kreanga	Wang Liqin
2004	Hangzhou	Ma Lin	Kalinikos Kreanga	Wang Hao
2005	Liège	Timo Boll	Wang Hao	Ma Lin
2006	Paris	Ma Lin	Wang Hao	Wang Liqin
2007	Barcelona	Wang Hao	Ryu Seung-min	Wang Liqin
2008	Liège	Wang Hao	Timo Boll	Ma Long
2009	Moscow	Vladimir Samsonov	Chen Qi	Ma Long
2010	Magdeburg	Wang Hao	Zhang Jike	Timo Boll
2011	Paris	Zhang Jike	Wang Hao	Joo Se-hyuk
2012	Liverpool	Ma Long	Timo Boll	Vladimir Samsonov
2013	Verviers	Xu Xin	Vladimir Samsonov	Dimitrij Ovtcharov
2014	Düsseldorf	Zhang Jike	Ma Long	Timo Boll
2015	Halmstad	Ma Long	Fan Zhendong	Dimitrij Ovtcharov
2016	Saarbrücken	Fan Zhendong	Xu Xin	Wong Chun-ting
2017	Liège	Dimitrij Ovtcharov	Timo Boll	Ma Long
2018	Paris	Fan Zhendong	Timo Boll	Lin Gaoyuan
2019	Chengdu	Fan Zhendong	Tomokazu Harimoto	Lin Yun-ju
2020	Weihai	Fan Zhendong	Ma Long	Tomokazu Harimoto

WTT Cup Finals

Year	Host City	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2021	Singapore	Fan Zhendong	Tomokazu Harimoto	Hugo Calderano
				Wang Chuqin

Women's singles

ITTF World Cup

Year	Host City	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1996	Hong Kong	Deng Yaping	Yang Ying	Wang Chen
1997	Shanghai	Wang Nan	Li Ju	Li Chunli
1998	Taipei	Wang Nan	Li Ju	Chen-Tong Fei-Ming
2000	Phnom Penh	Li Ju	Wang Nan	Sun Jin
2001	Wuhu	Zhang Yining	Kim Hyon-hui	Mihaela Steff
2002	Singapore	Zhang Yining	Li Nan	Tie Ya Na
2003	Hong Kong	Wang Nan	Niu Jianfeng	Zhang Yining
2004	Hangzhou	Zhang Yining	Wang Nan	Tie Ya Na
2005	Guangzhou	Zhang Yining	Guo Yan	Ai Fukuhara
2006	Urumqi	Guo Yan	Zhang Yining	Li Jiawei
2007	Chengdu	Wang Nan	Zhang Yining	Guo Yue
2008	Kuala Lumpur	Li Xiaoxia	Tie Ya Na	Feng Tianwei
2009	Guangzhou	Liu Shiwen	Guo Yue	Li Xiaoxia
2010	Kuala Lumpur	Guo Yan	Jiang Huajun	Guo Yue
2011	Singapore	Ding Ning	Li Xiaoxia	Tie Ya Na
2012	Huangshi	Liu Shiwen	Elizabeta Samara	Shen Yanfei
2013	Kobe	Liu Shiwen	Wu Yang	Feng Tianwei
2014	Linz	Ding Ning	Li Xiaoxia	Kasumi Ishikawa
2015	Sendai	Liu Shiwen	Kasumi Ishikawa	Petrissa Solja
2016	Philadelphia	Miu Hirano	Cheng I-ching	Feng Tianwei
2017	Markham	Zhu Yuling	Liu Shiwen	Cheng I-ching
2018	Chengdu	Ding Ning	Zhu Yuling	Cheng I-ching
2019	Chengdu	Liu Shiwen	Zhu Yuling	Feng Tianwei
2020	Weihai	Chen Meng	Sun Yingsha	Mima Ito

WTT Cup Finals

Year	Host City	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2021	Singapore	Sun Yingsha	Wang Yidi	Chen Meng
				Hina Hayata

Men's doubles

Year	Host City	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1990	Seoul	Kim Taek-soo Yoo Nam-kyu	Steffen Fetzner Jörg Roßkopf	Andrzej Grubba Leszek Kucharski
				Ilija Lupulesku Zoran Primorac
1992	Las Vegas	Kim Taek-soo Yoo Nam-kyu	Andrei Mazunov Dmitrij Mazunov	Steffen Fetzner Jörg Roßkopf
				Kang Hee-chan Lee Chul-seung

Women's doubles

Year	Host City	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1990	Seoul	Hong Cha-ok Hyun Jung-hwa	Chai Po Wa Chan Tan Lui	Deng Yaping Hu Xiaoxin
				Hong Soon-hwa Lee Tae-joo
1992	Las Vegas	Deng Yaping Qiao Hong	Hong Cha-ok Hyun Jung-hwa	Chai Po Wa Chan Tan Lui
				Chen Zihe Gao Jun

Men's team

Year	Host City	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1990	Chiba City	Sweden Mikael Appelgren Erik Lindh Jörgen Persson Jan-Ove Waldner	China Chen Longcan Chen Zhibin Ma Wenge Wei Qingguang Yu Shentong	England Sky Andrew Chen Xinhua Alan Cooke Desmond Douglas
				North Korea Kim Guk-chol Kim Song-hui Ri Gun-sang
1991	Barcelona	China Ma Wenge Wang Hao Wang Tao Xie Chaojie Zhang Lei	Sweden Peter Karlsson Erik Lindh Jörgen Persson Jan-Ove Waldner	France Nicolas Chatelain Damien Éloi Jean-Philippe Gatien Olivier Marmurek
				North Korea Choi Kyong-sob Kim Guk-chol Kim Song-hui Ri Gun-sang
1994	Nimes	China Ding Song Lin Zhigang Liu Guoliang Wang Hao	Sweden Mikael Appelgren Peter Karlsson Jörgen Persson Jan-Ove Waldner	Belgium Thierry Cabrera Andras Podpinka Philippe Saive Frederic Sonnet
				France Patrick Chila Damien Éloi Jean-Philippe Gatien Christophe Legoût
1995	Atlanta	South Korea Chu Kyo-sung Kim Bong-chul Kim Taek-soo Lee Chul-seung Yoo Nam-kyu	Germany Steffen Fetzner Peter Franz Richard Prause Jörg Roßkopf	Japan Ichiro Imaeda Kōji Matsushita Toshio Tasaki Ryo Yuzawa
				Jim Butler Cheng Yinghua David Zhuang
2007	Magdeburg	China Chen Qi Ma Lin Wang Hao Wang Liqin	Hong Kong Cheung Yuk Leung Chu Yan Li Ching	Austria Chen Weixing Robert Gardos Bernhard Presslmayer Werner Schlager
				South Korea Joo Sae-hyuk Lee Jung-sam Oh Sang-eun Ryu Seung-min
2009	Linz	China Ma Long Qiu Yike Xu Xin Zhang Jike	South Korea Joo Sae-hyuk Oh Sang-eun Ryu Seung-min Yoon Jae-young	Germany Patrick Baum Dimitrij Ovtcharov Bastian Steger Christian Süß
				Hong Kong Cheung Yuk Jiang Tianyi Leung Chu Yan Tang Peng Tse Ka Chun
2010	Dubai	China Hao Shuai Ma Long Wang Hao Xu Xin Zhang Jike	South Korea Jeoung Young-sik Joo Sae-hyuk Lee Jung-woo Oh Sang-eun	Austria Chen Weixing Stefan Fegerl Robert Gardos Daniel Habesohn Werner Schlager
				Germany Patrick Baum Zoltan Fejer-Konnerth Steffen Mengel
2011	Magdeburg	China Ma Lin Ma Long Wang Hao Wang Liqin Xu Xin	South Korea Joo Sae-hyuk Kim Min-seok Oh Sang-eun Ryu Seung-min	Germany Patrick Baum Ruwen Filus Dimitrij Ovtcharov Bastian Steger
				Japan Kenta Matsudaira Koki Niwa Kaii Yoshida
2013	Guangzhou	China Ma Long Wang Hao Wang Liqin Xu Xin Zhang Jike	Chinese Taipei Chen Chien-an Chiang Hung-chieh Chuang Chih-yuan Huang Sheng-sheng Wu Chih-chi	Egypt Khalid Assar Omar Assar Mohamed El-beiali El-sayed Lashin Ahmed Saleh
				Japan Kenta Matsudaira Jun Mizutani Koki Niwa
2015	Dubai	China Fan Zhendong Fang Bo Ma Long Xu Xin Zhang Jike	Austria Chen Weixing Stefan Fegerl Robert Gardos Daniel Habesohn	Chinese Taipei Chen Chien-an Chiang Hung-chieh Huang Sheng-sheng Wu Chih-chi
				Portugal Tiago Apolónia Marcos Freitas João Geraldo João Monteiro
2018	London	China Fan Zhendong Lin Gaoyuan Ma Long Xu Xin Yu Ziyang	Japan Tomokazu Harimoto Koki Niwa Yuya Oshima Jin Ueda	England Paul Drinkhall Tom Jarvis David McBeath Liam Pitchford Sam Walker
				South Korea Jeong Sang-eun Jeoung Young-sik Lee Sang-su Lim Jong-hoon
2019	Tokyo	China Fan Zhendong Liang Jingkun Lin Gaoyuan Ma Long Xu Xin	South Korea Cho Dae-seong Jang Woo-jin Jeoung Young-sik Lee Sang-su Lim Jong-hoon	Chinese Taipei Chen Chien-an Liao Chen-ting Lin Yun-ju Peng Wang-wei Wang Tai-wei
				Japan Tomokazu Harimoto Takuya Jin Koki Niwa Maharu Yoshimura

Performance by nations in Men's World Team

Team	Winners	Runners-up	Third Place
China	10 (1991, '94, 2007, '09, '10, '11, '13, '15, '18, '19)	1 (1990)	0
South Korea	1 (1995)	4 (2009, '10, '11, '19)	2 (2007, '18)
Sweden	1 (1990)	2 (1991, '94)	0
Japan	0	1 (2018)	4 (1995, 2011, '13, '19)
Germany	0	1 (1995)	3 (2009, '10, '11)
Austria	0	1 (2015)	2 (2007, '10)
Chinese Taipei	0	1 (2013)	2 (2015, '19)
Hong Kong	0	1 (2007)	1 (2009)
North Korea	0	0	2 (1990, '91)
England	0	0	2 (1990, 2018)
France	0	0	2 (1991, '94)
Belgium	0	0	1 (1994)
United States	0	0	1 (1995)
Egypt	0	0	1 (2013)
Portugal	0	0	1 (2015)

Women's team

Year	Host City	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1990	Chiba City	China Chen Zihe Deng Yaping Gao Jun Qiao Hong	North Korea Li Bun-hui Li Mi-suk Yu Sun-bok	Japan Mika Hoshino Miki Kitsukawa Rika Sato Tomoko Shimonaga
				South Korea Hong Cha-ok Hong Soon-hwa Hyun Jung-hwa
1991	Barcelona	China Chen Zihe Deng Yaping Gao Jun Liu Wei Qiao Hong	South Korea Hong Cha-ok Hong Soon-hwa Hyun Jung-hwa	Japan Mika Hoshino Fumiyo Yamashita-Kaizu Rika Sato
				North Korea Li Bun-hui Li Mi-suk Yu Sun-bok
1994	Nimes	Russia Galina Melnik Irina Palina Elena Timina	Germany Christina Fischer Elke Schall Jie Schöpp Nicole Struse	China Wang Chen Wu Na Zhang Ling
				Netherlands Gerdie Keen Mirjam Hooman-Kloppenburg Emily Noor Bettine Vriesekoop
1995	Atlanta	China Deng Yaping Liu Wei Qiao Hong Qiao Yunping Yang Ying	Romania Otilia Bădescu Emilia Elena Ciosu Georgeta Cojocaru	Hungary Csilla Bátorfi Vivien Ello Krisztina Tóth
				South Korea Kim Moo-kyo Park Hae-jung Park Kyung-ae Ryu Ji-hye
2007	Magdeburg	China Guo Yue Li Xiaoxia Wang Nan Zhang Yining	South Korea Kim Kyung-ah Kwak Bang-bang Lee Eun-hee Park Mi-young	Hong Kong Lau Sui Fei Lin Ling Tie Ya Na Zhang Rui
				Hungary Li Bin Petra Lovas Georgina Póta Krisztina Tóth
2009	Linz	China Ding Ning Guo Yue Li Xiaoxia Liu Shiwen	Singapore Feng Tianwei Zena Sim Kai Xin Sun Beibei Wang Yuegu Yu Mengyu	Hong Kong Jiang Huajun Lau Sui Fei Lin Ling Tie Ya Na Zhang Rui
				Japan Ai Fukuhara Sayaka Hirano Kasumi Ishikawa
2010	Dubai	China Ding Ning Guo Yan Guo Yue Li Xiaoxia Liu Shiwen	Singapore Feng Tianwei Li Jiawei Sun Beibei Wang Yuegu Yu Mengyu	South Korea Kim Kyung-ah Park Mi-young Seok Ha-jung Yang Ha-eun
				Japan Hiroko Fujii Ai Fukuhara Kasumi Ishikawa
2011	Magdeburg	China Ding Ning Fan Ying Guo Yan Guo Yue Li Xiaoxia	Japan Ai Fukuhara Sayaka Hirano Kasumi Ishikawa	Hong Kong Jiang Huajun Lee Ho Ching Ng Wing Nam Tie Ya Na Yu Kwok See
				Singapore Feng Tianwei Li Jiawei Sun Beibei Wang Yuegu Yu Mengyu
2013	Guangzhou	China Chang Chenchen Ding Ning Li Xiaoxia Liu Shiwen Wu Yang	Japan Ai Fukuhara Sayaka Hirano Kasumi Ishikawa	Hong Kong Guan Mengyuan Jiang Huajun Lee Ho Ching Ng Wing Nam Tie Ya Na
				Singapore Feng Tianwei Isabelle Li Yee Herng Hwee Yu Mengyu
2015	Dubai	China Chen Meng Ding Ning Li Xiaoxia Liu Shiwen Zhu Yuling	North Korea Kim Hye-yong Kim Jong Ri Mi-gyong Ri Myong-sun	Japan Sayaka Hirano Yuka Ishigaki Misaki Morizono
				Singapore Feng Tianwei Isabelle Li Lim Eunice Yu Mengyu Zhang Wanling
2018	London	China Chen Xingtong Ding Ning Liu Shiwen Wang Manyu Zhu Yuling	Japan Hina Hayata Miu Hirano Kasumi Ishikawa Mima Ito	Hong Kong Doo Hoi Kem Lee Ho Ching Mak Tze Wing Ng Wing Nam Minnie Soo
				North Korea Cha Hyo-sim Choe Hyon-hwa Kim Nam-hee Kim Song-i
2019	Tokyo	China Chen Meng Ding Ning Liu Shiwen Sun Yingsha Wang Manyu	Japan Miu Hirano Kasumi Ishikawa Mima Ito Hitomi Sato	Chinese Taipei Chen Szu-yu Cheng Hsien-tzu Cheng I-ching Liu Hsing-yin Su Pei-ling
				South Korea Choi Hyo-joo Jeon Ji-hee Shin Yu-bin Suh Hyo-won Yang Ha-eun

Performance by nations in Women's World Team

Team	Winners	Runners-up	Third Place
China	11 (1990, '91, '95, 2007, '09, '10, '11, '13, '15, '18, '19)	0	1 (1994)
Singapore	1	2 (2009, '10)	3 (2011, '13, '15)
Russia	1 (1994)	0	0
Japan	0	4 (2011, '13, '18, '19)	4 (1991, 2009, '10, '15)
South Korea	0	2 (1991, 2007)	3 (1995, 2010, '19)
North Korea	0	2 (1990, 2015)	2 (1991, 2018)
Romania	0	1 (1995)	0
Germany	0	1 (1994)	0
Hong Kong	0	0	5 (2007, '09, '11, '13, '18)
Hungary	0	0	3 (1990, '95, 2007)
France	0	0	1 (1990)
Netherlands	0	0	1 (1994)
Chinese Taipei	0	0	1 (2019)