India’s top-level paddlers are all set to take the world stage of ITTF World Cup 2026—the tournament begins on March 30 in Macao, China. The event features over 96 players competing across both men’s and women’s singles events. The action will be jam-packed as India’s Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula and Manav Thakkar represent their nation.
The tournament will begin with a round-robin group stage match in which 48 players in each draw are split into 16 groups of three. Only the winners of the group will progress to the knockout stage. India’s women’s paddler Batra will face the challenge in Group 4 when facing World No. 5, Miwa Harimoto of Japan, and World No. 42 Lily Zhang of the USA.
The 47th-ranked Batra will need a strong showcase in the event. Meanwhile, Akula, who is placed in Group 2, will face World No. 2 Wang Manyu of China and Fu Yu of Portugal.
In the men’s draw, Thakkar is grouped with World No. 2 Truls Möregårdh of Sweden, and
South Korea’s Park Gang-hyeon. The 33rd Id3nian seed aims to defeat higher-ranked opponents to advance into the knockouts.
India is yet to win a World Cup in paddling and a medal at the ITTF World Cup. Last year, both Batra and Akula ended their campaign in the group stage. The two winning players along with Thakkar aim to set a new achievement this season.
The format of the tournament includes a two-stage structure at the ITTF World Cup. The group stage has a round-robin format with three players per group. The next is the knockout stage where players will advance to the Round of 16. The game format includes a group stage with a best-of-five and a knockout with best-of-seven games.
ITTF World Cup 2026 Full Schedule
March 30 (Monday): Group Stage – Round 1 (7:00 AM)
March 31 (Tuesday): Group Stage – Round 2 (7:00 AM)
April 1 (Wednesday): Group Stage – Round 3 (7:00 AM)
April 2 & 3 (Thursday–Friday): Round of 16 (8:30 AM)
April 4 (Saturday): Quarter-finals (8:30 AM) & Semi-finals (3:30 PM)
April 5 (Sunday): Finals ( 8:30 AM)
To catch the game live, the streaming will be done on ITTF official YouTube channel. For India there is no live TV broadcast available.
