Islamabad (Sports News): The International Table Tennis Federation announced the creation of the ITTF Doubles World Cup, a landmark new competition approved by the ITTF Executive Board that will bring Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles together on the world stage. The event will take place in 2027.
The announcement means that every LA28 Olympic table tennis event now has an equivalent on the World Cup stage: the ITTF Men's and Women’s World Cup covering Singles, the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup, and now the ITTF Doubles World Cup spanning Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles.
At Los Angeles 2028, Men's Doubles and Women's Doubles will return to the Olympic programme for the first time since Athens 2004, joining Mixed Doubles, introduced at Tokyo 2020, to complete a full Doubles lineup.
The ITTF Doubles World Cup is the sport's new premier doubles competition, giving the world's best doubles players a World Cup stage to call their own.
"Doubles is returning to the Olympic Games, and the ITTF Doubles World Cup is how we rise to meet that moment, giving the world's best doubles players the World Cup stage they deserve, and building the pathway to Los Angeles. In our centenary year, we are not just celebrating 100 years of table tennis. We are building the next 100," commented Petra Sörling, ITTF President and IOC Member
The momentum behind doubles table tennis has never been stronger. At the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals 2025, the doubles events delivered some of the most memorable moments of the year. Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha sent Chinese fans into ecstasy by claiming Mixed Doubles gold for the third consecutive time, cementing their status as the greatest doubles partnership of their generation. In Men's Doubles, Japan's Shunsuke Togami and Hiroto Shinozuka ended a 64-year wait for a world title in a five-game thriller. In Women's Doubles, Wang Manyu and Kuai Man claimed the title on their very first World Championships appearance as a pair.
The stories kept coming in 2026. At WTT Singapore Smash, Alexis and Félix Lebrun became the first French players to win a Grand Smash title across any discipline, claiming Men's Doubles honours and rising to World No.1. On the same courts, Brazil's Hugo Calderano and Bruna Takahashi made history of their own, becoming the first players from the Americas to claim Mixed Doubles honours at this level.
These are the stories that a Doubles World Cup was made for.
The announcement comes during ITTF's centenary year, marking 100 years since the federation was founded. As the sport reflects on a century of history, the ITTF Doubles World Cup is a commitment to the future of table tennis. The event joins a World Cup calendar that has grown significantly in recent years. The Men's and Women's World Cup returned in 2024 and has delivered two successful editions, while the Mixed Team World Cup launched in 2023.
The creation of the ITTF Doubles World Cup was approved by the Executive Board to provide more playing opportunities and a qualification pathway for doubles players. Further information on the host, dates and competition format will be confirmed in due course.
