Table tennis stepped boldly into a new era as the inaugural ITTF World Esports Championships kicked off in Helsingborg, Sweden, marking a historic fusion of traditional excellence and digital innovation.
Building on the success of last year’s Olympic Esports Week in Singapore, this championship represents a groundbreaking advancement in the sport’s digital evolution. Through Eleven Table Tennis’s gameplay, eight elite players – including two qualifiers from an initial field of 212 participants – are showcasing how traditional table tennis skills translate seamlessly into the virtual arena.
Top seed Antonin “Anto” Landreau set the tone early, facing off against Sha “Shayne115” Wenhao in the opening quarterfinal. The French champion, fresh from his Olympic Esports Week triumph, demonstrated his virtual prowess with a commanding performance. Despite some solid resistance from the Chinese professional coach, Anto cruised to a convincing 3-0 victory to secure the first semi-final spot.
The second quarter-final saw Nicolas “Swiss11Rally” Champod take on Eva “emart_11” Martínez. The Spanish star, the sole female competitor in the championships, showed moments of brilliance but couldn’t halt the Swiss former World Championships participant’s march to victory. Swiss11Rally maintained his composure throughout, claiming a 3-0 win to advance.
Home hopes rested with André “L4mbo” Bylund as the seventh-seeded Swede faced second seed Maik “Aiphaton” Reusner. L4mbo started strongly, feeding off the local support, but the German’s experience as a former world No.1 proved decisive. Once finding his rhythm, Aiphaton controlled the proceedings to complete another 3-0 victory.
The day’s final quarter-final delivered the drama the historic occasion deserved. Fourth seed Nathan “Natping” Denéchère and fifth seed Wladmir “Wlad” Pimentel produced a thrilling five-game encounter. After trading blows throughout – Natping claiming the first, Wlad levelling, Natping again taking the lead only for the Brazilian to force a decider – it was the French youngster who eventually prevailed, setting up an all-French semi-final against compatriot Anto.
Tomorrow’s action begins at 15:45 CET with the highly anticipated French derby between Anto and Natping, followed by Aiphaton facing Swiss11Rally for the other spot in the historic final.
Watch all the action live on ITTF’s YouTube Channel.
