The World Table Tennis Championships consists of five events, men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles; all are hosted in odd numbered years. Eventually, the International Table Tennis Federation split the event into individual and team in 2003. The World Team Table Tennis Championships are held in even numbered years.

In the beginning, Hungary was the team that dominated the competition, winning 12 times. Later on, China and Japan became fierce rivals. In the 1950s, Japan won 8 championships. However, China eventually became the ruling country in the competition with the Chinese women team having only lost twice since 1975.

Each event has a specific trophy presented to the winners which gets returned and presented to the next winner. There is the Swaythling Cup for men’s team, the Corbillon Cup, for Women’s Team, the St. Bride Vase for men’s singles, the Geist Prize for women’s singles, the Iran Cup, for men’s doubles, and the W.J. Pope Trophy for women’s doubles. There is also the Egypt Cup which gets presented to the host of following year’s championship.

Interesting Fact: China continues to dominate the tournament today.