World champs Ma Long, Fan Zhendong to lead Chinese team at 2020 ITTF Men's World Cup

BEIJING - World champions Ma Long and Fan Zhendong will lead the Chinese team at the coming 2020 ITTF men's World Cup.

The news comes after the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) revealed the players list.

Ma, the winner of 2019 World Championships, now ranks No 3 in the men's singles, while his compatriot Fan ranks No 1.

Joining them on the list are Japanese Harimoto Tomokazu and Niwa Koki, and Timo Boll from Germany.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all international sports events including table tennis came to a grinding halt early in the year.

After months of preparation, the ITTF announced the return of table tennis to the international arena and named it RESTART.

The RESTART of the ITTF will feature three of the most prestigious events, including 2020 ITTF Women's World Cup, 2020 ITTF Men's World Cup and the 2020 ITTF Finals.

"Ensuring a safe return to international table tennis has been our utmost priority ever since the pandemic broke out. We have managed to get events back up and running before the end of 2020," ITTF president Thomas Weikert said.