The ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals Doha 2025 stars tomorrow! From 17-25 May, Qatar’s premier venues will host the sport’s most prestigious individual championship. Twenty-one years after making history as the Middle East’s first World Championships host in 2004, Doha is ready to write its next chapter in the sport’s rich legacy.
The 2025 edition promises to deliver unparalleled excitement with five events featuring the planet’s finest talents competing for glory in Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, and Mixed Doubles. Every singles match will be contested over best-of-7 games, with doubles matches played as best-of-5, guaranteeing intense competition throughout the nine days of play.
Before the first serve, here’s everything you need to know about this landmark event.
When and Where?
The Championships will take place from 17-25 May at two venues:
- Lusail Multipurpose Hall – Main competition venue
- Qatar University Sports Complex – Additional courts for early rounds
Follow complete live results and updates throughout the World Championships here.
Playing System
The 2025 World Championships Finals features five individual events:
- Men’s Singles
- Women’s Singles
- Men’s Doubles
- Women’s Doubles
- Mixed Doubles
All events will follow a straight knockout format:
- The first round of Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles will have 128 places
- The first round of Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles will have 64 places
- Singles events will feature 32 seeded players
- Doubles events will have 16 seeded pairs
- All singles matches will be best-of-7 games
- All doubles matches will be best-of-5 games
The winners of each event shall receive gold medals, the losing finalists, silver medals, and the losing semifinalists, bronze medals.
Who is Playing?
Over 300 athletes from more than 70 member associations will compete across the five World Championships events, with qualification completed and draws conducted last month. The Championships showcase a compelling blend of established champions and emerging talent. For the full player list, visit here.
Exciting Debutants to Watch
Miwa Harimoto (JPN) Making her World Championships Finals debut in the singles event at just 16 years of age, Miwa Harimoto represents a generational talent in the sport. After her stellar performance in last year’s team event, she enters her first individual World Championships with remarkable form, having secured four titles already on the international circuit. Her technical precision and competitive maturity suggest a podium challenge is entirely possible in Doha.
Satsuki Odo (JPN) After claiming multiple international titles in 2024, Satsuki Odo emerges as one of the breakthrough performers of recent seasons. Her remarkable title-winning campaign in Montpellier demonstrated her capacity to compete at the highest level. The Championships represent her opportunity to establish herself among the elite competitors in the sport.
Thibault Poret (FRA) Part of France’s exceptional new generation, the 20-year-old Poret demonstrated his considerable potential with a remarkable finals appearance in Chennai. His Doha debut provides the perfect platform to showcase his technical capabilities and competitive temperament on the sport’s most prestigious stage.
Oh Junsung (KOR) The Korean competitor enters his first World Championships with growing confidence following significant international success. His technical precision and tactical adaptability mark him as a particularly intriguing competitor in the Men’s Singles draw.
Shi Xunyao (CHN) One of China’s emerging talents, the 23-year-old Shi brings an impressive competitive record to her debut World Championships appearance. With multiple international successes already secured in 2025, including triumph in Muscat, she represents China’s continuing technical excellence in the women’s competition.
Pyon Song Gyong (PRK) After capturing global attention with her exceptional Olympic Games quarterfinal appearance in Paris, where she secured victories against several established international stars, Pyon enters the Championships as a compelling competitor capable of producing significant results.
Host Nation Representatives
Qatar’s participation includes seven athletes carrying national aspirations across all five events:
- Men’s Singles: Ahmed Korani, Sultan Al-Kuwari, and Mohammed Abdulwahhab will represent the host nation
- Women’s Singles: Maryam Ali and Aia Mohamed lead Qatar’s women’s challenge
- Men’s Doubles: Partnerships of Rawad Alnaser/Sultan Al-Kuwari and Abdullah Abdulwahhab/Mohammed Abdulwahhab
- Women’s Doubles: Aia Mohamed and Maryam Ali combine their talents
- Mixed Doubles: Aia Mohamed/Mohammed Abdulwahhab (quarter-finalists in recent Doha events) and the newly formed partnership of Maryam Ali/Ahmed Korani
With extensive home support, these seven competitors aim to create lasting impressions at this historic Championship held on home soil.
Opening Weekend Highlights
The Championships commence with exceptional matches from the very first session:
- Day 1 features a captivating Mixed Doubles contest as top seeds Lin Shidong and Kuai Man face recently crowned international singles champions Liam Pitchford and Anna Hursey in a compelling opening encounter at 10:00 (GMT+3) on Saturday 17 May.
- The opening day continues with singles matches featuring international stars Mima Ito, the Lebrun brothers and Chen Xingtong, while 2023 silver medallist Wang Chuqin begins his title campaign against Nandan Naresh at 19:10 (GMT+3).
- Day 2 sees Wang Chuqin return for his Mixed Doubles partnership with Sun Yingsha as they commence their title defence against Jishan Liang and Amy Wang at 10:00 (GMT+3) on Sunday 18 May.
- Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto, pursuing his first Men’s Singles medal at the World Championships Finals, faces Korea’s Lim Jonghoon at 12:40 (GMT+3), before his sister Miwa Harimoto makes her Championships debut against Margaryta Pesotska at 13:20 (GMT+3).
- The weekend’s compelling schedule continues when Lin Shidong and Liam Pitchford meet in singles competition at 17:10 (GMT+3), providing spectators with another opportunity to witness these exceptional competitors.
Stay updated with the playing schedule here.
Table Tennis Review (TTR) System
For the first time at an ITTF World Championships, the Table Tennis Review system will be in operation. The TTR will be available only at Lusail Multipurpose Hall on Table 1 and Table 2, allowing players to challenge umpire decisions in crucial moments of play.
Each player/pair will be allowed two unsuccessful TTR challenges per match, providing an additional layer of fairness to the competition.
Where to Watch
The ITTF World Championships will receive global broadcast coverage across major networks worldwide while matches will also be streamed live on the WTT YouTube channel (YouTube.com/WTTGlobal). The following regional broadcasters will provide live coverage:
REGIONAL BROADCASTERS
China & Macao, China
- MIGU: 17-25 May 2025 (Table 1), 17-23 May 2025 (Tables 2-9)
- CCTV-5: 17-25 May 2025 (Table 1), 17-23 May 2025 (Tables 2-9)
Japan
- TV Tokyo: 17-25 May 2025
- U-Next: 17-25 May 2025
Chinese Taipei
- ELTA: 17-25 May 2025
France, Andorra, Monaco, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Mauritius
- RMC Sport sur Twitch: 17-25 May 2025 (Table 1), 17-23 May 2025 (Tables 2-9)
Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore
- SPOTV SEA: 17-25 May 2025
Korea Republic
- SPOTV Korea: 17-25 May 2025
Austria, Germany, Switzerland
- Dyn: 17-25 May 2025
Hong Kong, China
- now TV: 17-25 May 2025
Sweden
- SVT: 17-25 May 2025 (Table 1), 17-23 May 2025 (Tables 2-9)
Romania
- AntenaPlay: 17-25 May 2025 (Table 1), 17-23 May 2025 (Tables 2-9)
Brazil
- CazeTV: 17-25 May 2025
Slovenia
- RTV Slovenia: 17-25 May 2025
Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, UAE
- Al Kass: 17-25 May 2025
Ukraine
- Maincast: 17-25 May 2025
Finland
- YLE: 25 May 2025
Follow the Championships
- Live Results: Official event page
- Photos: High-resolution images available daily at https://www.flickr.com/photos/ittfworld/
- Social Media: Follow @ITTFWorld and @WTT across platforms for daily coverage.
