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The World Championships are the most prestigious event in the international
table tennis calendar.
The competition has been held since 1926 with the United Kingdom hosting the first tournament which is organised by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).
Held biennially since 1957 the tournament has five individual events which include men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's double and mixed doubles.
"London is a very special place for the ITTF, as it is where we were founded in 1926, and where we held our first World Championships in the same year," ITTF’s President Thomas Weikert said on Inside The Games.
"It is great to be bringing world class table tennis back to this city, for this reason and because of the massive success of the London 2012 table tennis event."
Chinese superstar Ma Long has won a record five straight ITTF World Tour tournaments in a row, including a streak of 35 sets, and a record total of 28 ITTF World Tour titles.
While Romanian legend Angelica Rozeanu is the most successful female table tennis player in the history of the sport, winning the women's world singles title six years in succession.
The World Team Table Tennis Championships, which include men's team and women's team events, were first their own competition in 2000.
The Team Championships are held in even-numbered years and in the earlier days of the tournament, Hungary's men's team was a dominant force, winning the championships 12 times.
This was followed by a short period of dominance by Japan in the 1950s, but from the 1960s onwards, China emerged as the new dominant power in this tournament.
With the exception of 1989–2000, when Sweden won four times, China continues to dominate the sport as their men's team holds a record 20 world team championship titles.
Fan Zhendong, Lin Gaoyuan, Ma Long, Wang Chuqin and Xu Xin were part of the Chinese men's team which won gold at the 2018 World Team Table Championships.
In the 1950s, Japan's women team was a force to be reckoned with, winning a total of eight titles.
The Chinese women started their strong grip on the world team championships from the 1970s onwards and have only lost twice since 1975 as they hold 21 women's team titles.
Chen Meng, Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen, Wang Manyu and Zhu Yuling were part of the Chinese women's team which won gold at the 2018 World Team Table Championships.
Unsurprisingly, China are the most successful team in the history of the World Championships having won 145 gold medals followed by Hungary's 68, while Japan have recorded 48.
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