Ma Long, Xu Xin join China camp ahead of centenary title defense

China has turned its final buildup to the 2026 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals into a test of succession, not sentiment. Ma Long and Xu Xin are in Chengdu with the men’s squad, offering the kind of technical calm and pressure-proof decision-making that a younger group will need when the title race starts in London on April 28.

That London return carries real weight. The championships run from April 28 to May 10 at the Copper Box Arena and the OVO Arena Wembley, 100 years after the first World Table Tennis Championships were staged in the city in 1926. The International Table Tennis Federation says 19 of the world’s top 20 men are expected, which means China’s bid for a 12th straight team title will run straight into the deepest field it has faced in years.

China announced its men’s roster on April 8: Wang Chuqin, Lin Shidong, Zhou Qihao, Xiang Peng and Liang Jingkun. Wang Chuqin and Lin Shidong arrive as the leading names, while Zhou Qihao and Xiang Peng earned their spots through team trials. That selection tells the story of the camp in Chengdu. China is not just loading up on talent. It is trying to fast-track match toughness in a group that does not yet have the same Olympic and major-event mileage as the old guard.

That is where Ma Long matters most. He won team gold at the 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games, and after Paris 2024 he became China’s most decorated Olympian with six gold medals. He also brings a direct link to the sport’s last great reset, having been part of the China side that won the 2006 World Team Table Tennis Championships, when he became the youngest world champion at 17. Xu Xin adds a different kind of authority, with two Olympic golds and one Olympic silver on his profile.

The question in London is whether that mentorship can close the gap when the brackets get ugly. Japan, Germany and the rest of Europe will not hand China easy points, and a title defense built on veteran guidance will still depend on how quickly Lin Shidong, Zhou Qihao and the rest can absorb the habits that decide team matches: serve-receive discipline, shot selection under strain and composure when the scoreboard tightens. China has the names, the history and the depth. Now it has to prove the transition can keep pace with the rest of the world.