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E-mail Xinhua, February 21, 2024
Teams qualifying for the knockout round have been confirmed at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals, with its group stage action coming to an end on Tuesday.
Despite its ace Darko Jorgic's early struggle in a full-game thriller against Wong Qi Shen, Slovenia sailed past Malaysia 3-0 in its final group match, joining China, Germany, South Korea, France, Japan, Sweden and Portugal as undefeated sides in the men's event.
Andrea Todorovic of Serbia serves the ball to Wong Xin Ru of Singapore during the women's team Group 7 match at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals Busan 2024 in Busan, South Korea, Feb. 20, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao)
The eight teams secured their leading positions in respective groups, thus directly qualifying for the last-16 of the tournament.
"It was our goal from the beginning for the World Championships to reach first place in the group. We reached first place and we are looking forward to the next match," said the 15th-ranked Jorgic.
The draw for the knockout stage was made on Tuesday night. China will face either England or Romania in the round of 16, while Japan was also drawn into the first quarter.
Slovenia and South Korea were placed in the second quarter, while the third quarter featured France and Portugal. In the fourth quarter, Sweden and Germany are poised for a possible quarterfinal duel.
On the women's side, Group 5 action ended in dramatic fashion as Puerto Rico, led by world No. 11 Adriana Diaz, suffered an early exit from the tournament despite its 3-1 victory over Cuba, as Malaysia edged Italy 3-2 in the other match of the group.
Malaysia, Italy and Puerto Rico all registered win-loss records of 2-2, and each team had also won or lost against each other by a 3-2 margin. With the calculation of overall games in their head-to-heads coming into effect, Puerto Rico finished fourth in the group, behind Malaysia and Italy.
China, Japan, Germany, Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Romania, France and Hong Kong, China finished as group winners, thus reaching the last-16.
Defending champions China will face the winner between Austria and Thailand in Wednesday's round of 16, with a quarterfinal clash with hosts South Korea looming ahead.
France and Germany were drawn in the same quarter, while Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong, China could vie for a spot in the final four. Romania and last four editions' runners-up Japan are also expected to cross swords in the quarterfinals.
