The countdown to the ITTF World Team Championships Finals London 2026 officially began with the draw ceremony, and for the Indian women’s team, the road to the main draw has now been clearly mapped out.
India have been drawn into Group 6 in Stage 1b, alongside Ukraine, Greece and Rwanda, in what promises to be a demanding but navigable group as they look to qualify for the championship proper. With 64 teams competing in each gender category, the ITTF has designed a complex but competitive multi-stage format that ensures both elite teams and emerging nations get meaningful match play while keeping the final knockout draw fiercely contested. For India, understanding the pathway out of Stage 1b is critical to appreciating what lies ahead over the first few days of competition in London.
How the tournament structure works
The championship is split into two parallel first-stage routes – Stage 1a and Stage 1b.
- Stage 1a features the top seven ranked teams in the world plus the host nation (England). These eight teams are divided into two groups of four, primarily to determine seeding for the main draw. All Stage 1a teams are automatically guaranteed a place in the Main Draw.
- Stage 1b, where India are placed, contains the remaining 56 teams, divided into 14 groups of four teams each (Groups 3 to 16). Each team plays a full round-robin in their group, meaning three matches per team.
From these 14 groups, qualification to the Main Draw is decided in two layers:
- The 14 group winners qualify automatically.
- Six of the 14 second-placed teams also qualify directly based on comparative performance across all Stage 1b groups.
That makes 20 teams qualifying directly from Stage 1b (14 winners + 6 best runners-up). The remaining eight second-placed teams go into a Preliminary Knockout Round, where four additional teams will emerge to complete the 32-team Main Draw. In short, finishing first in the group guarantees qualification, while finishing second gives India a strong chance, but nothing is guaranteed unless they are among the six best runners-up.
India’s Group 6 challenge
India’s group contains Ukraine, Greece and Rwanda, a mix of European mid-tier teams and a fast-improving African side. While this is not one of the “groups of death” that include traditional table tennis powers, it is far from straightforward. Ukraine come with solid depth in women’s table tennis and are usually well-drilled in team events, often producing gritty performances even against higher-ranked opponents.
Greece are technically sound, with players accustomed to the European circuit and capable of upsetting higher-seeded teams on their day. Rwanda, though relatively new to the top levels of international table tennis, have shown rapid improvement and are increasingly competitive in continental and intercontinental events. For India, the goal will be clear: win the group and avoid any mathematical complications. That would place them directly into the Main Draw, where the tournament truly begins.
Why topping the group matters
The difference between finishing first and second in Stage 1b is enormous. Group winners go straight into the Main Draw and are slotted into specific seeded positions based on ITTF’s complex draw algorithm, ensuring they are spread across the 32-team knockout bracket.
Second-placed teams, however, enter a ranking comparison across all 14 groups. Only the six best second-placed teams qualify directly. The remaining eight are thrown into a random knockout playoff, where one bad match can end a campaign that has otherwise gone well. For a team like India, which has invested heavily in building a strong women’s squad over the past decade, being forced into a preliminary knockout is a risk they would prefer to avoid.
What awaits in the Main Draw
Once teams reach the 32-team Main Draw, the format switches to a straight knockout. This is where the giants of world table tennis China, Japan, South Korea, Germany and others from Stage 1a begin their title campaigns. Stage 1a teams are placed in pre-determined seed positions, while Stage 1b qualifiers are slotted carefully to ensure that teams who already faced each other in the group stage do not meet again in the first knockout round.
For India, that means their performance in Stage 1b will not just determine qualification, but also who they might face in the Round of 32.
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From an Indian perspective, the Group 6 draw is workable. India are expected to be competitive against all three opponents, but in a team championship format, depth, doubles combinations and tactical decisions become as important as individual rankings. Dropping even one match could turn qualification into a statistical battle among second-placed teams across 14 groups something no team wants.
This is why Stage 1b is often described as the most dangerous phase of the tournament. It is where reputations mean little and consistency over three matches is everything. For the Indian women’s team, London 2026 begins not with a knockout clash, but with three group battles that will decide whether their World Team Championship campaign gets the platform it deserves.
