# 2018 ITTF Women's World Cup

The 2018 ITTF Women's World Cup was a table tennis competition held in Chengdu, China, from 28 to 30 September 2018. It was the 22nd edition of the ITTF-sanctioned event, and the ninth time that it has been staged in China.
In the final, China's Ding Ning defeated fellow Chinese player Zhu Yuling, 4–0, to win her third World Cup title.

## Qualification

In total, 20 players qualified for the World Cup:
* The current World Champion
* 18 players from the five Continental Cups held during 2018
* A wild card, selected by the ITTF
A maximum of two players from each association could qualify.
| Means of qualification | Date | Venue | Places | Qualified players |
| 2017 World Championships | 31 May–4 June 2017 | Düsseldorf | 1 | Ding Ning |
| 2018 Europe Top 16 Cup | 3–4 February 2018 | Montreux | 3 | Bernadette Szőcs Li Jie Elizabeta Samara |
| 2018 ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup | 1–3 March 2018 | Nairobi | 1 | Dina Meshref |
| 2018 ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup | 6–8 April 2018 | Yokohama | 3 | Zhu Yuling Kasumi Ishikawa Cheng I-ching |
| 2018 ITTF-Oceania Cup | 18–19 May 2018 | Port Vila | 1 | Jian Fang Lay |
| 2018 ITTF Pan-America Cup | 15–17 June 2018 | Asunción | 2 | Zhang Mo Yue Wu |
| Additional qualifiers | n/a | n/a | 8 | Miu Hirano Doo Hoi Kem Chen Szu-Yu Seo Hyo-won Matilda Ekholm Sofia Polcanova Georgina Póta Liu Jia |
| ITTF wild card | n/a | n/a | 1 | Kim Song-i |
| Total | Total | Total | 20 | |

### Notes

* ↑ Based on Continental Cup finishing position and ITTF World Ranking on 1 July 2018

## Competition format

The tournament consisted of two stages: a preliminary group stage and a knockout stage. The players seeded 9 to 20 were drawn into four groups, with three players in each group. The top two players from each group then joined the top eight seeded players in the second stage of the competition, which consisted of a knockout draw.

## Seeding

The seeding list was based on the official ITTF world ranking for September 2018.
* Zhu Yuling (final)
* Kasumi Ishikawa (semifinals)
* Ding Ning (champion)
* Cheng I-ching (semifinals)
* Miu Hirano (quarterfinals)
* Seo Hyo-won (quarterfinals)
* Doo Hoi Kem (quarterfinals)
* Sofia Polcanova (quarterfinals)
* Li Jie (preliminary round)
* Elizabeta Samara (first round)
* Zhang Mo (preliminary round)
* Bernadette Szőcs (first round)
* Chen Szu-yu (first round)
* Matilda Ekholm (first round)
* Georgina Póta (first round)
* Liu Jia (first round)
* Dina Meshref (preliminary round)
* Kim Song-i (first round)
* Yue Wu (preliminary round)
* Jian Fang Lay (first round)

## Preliminary stage

The preliminary group stage took place on 28 September, with the top two players in each group progressing to the main draw.
| | Group A | Kim | Ekholm | Li | Points |
| 18 | Kim Song-i | | 4–3 | 4–1 | 4 |
| 14 | Matilda Ekholm | 3–4 | | 4–2 | 3 |
| 9 | Li Jie | 1–4 | 2–4 | | 2 |
| | Group B | Samara | Chen | Meshref | Points |
| 10 | E. Samara | | 4–3 | 4–3 | 4 |
| 13 | Chen Szu-yu | 3–4 | | 4–0 | 3 |
| 17 | Dina Meshref | 3–4 | 0–4 | | 2 |
| | Group C | Lay | Póta | Zhang | Points |
| 20 | Jian Fang Lay | | 4–1 | 3–4 | 3 |
| 15 | Georgina Póta | 1–4 | | 4–1 | 3 |
| 11 | Zhang Mo | 4–3 | 1–4 | | 3 |
| | Group D | Szőcs | Liu | Wu | Points |
| 12 | B. Szőcs | | 4–2 | 4–2 | 4 |
| 16 | Liu Jia | 2–4 | | 4–3 | 3 |
| 19 | Yue Wu | 2–4 | 3–4 | | 2 |

## Main draw

The knockout stage took place from 29 to 30 September.
| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Zhu Yuling | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Matilda Ekholm | 8 | 5 | 7 | 5 | | | | 1 | Zhu Yuling | 11 | 14 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Elizabeta Samara | 9 | 8 | 9 | 6 | | | | 8 | Sofia Polcanova | 6 | 12 | 8 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Sofia Polcanova | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | Zhu Yuling | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Doo Hoi Kem | 6 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 16 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | 4 | Cheng I-ching | 6 | 4 | 13 | 5 | 8 | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Bernadette Szőcs | 11 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 18 | 8 | | 7 | Doo Hoi Kem | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 15 | Georgina Póta | 6 | 8 | 18 | 11 | | | | 4 | Cheng I-ching | 8 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Cheng I-ching | 11 | 11 | 20 | 13 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | Zhu Yuling | 9 | 8 | 10 | 8 | | | |
| 3 | Ding Ning | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Ding Ning | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | | | |
| 16 | Liu Jia | 7 | 9 | 4 | 7 | | | | 3 | Ding Ning | 11 | 11 | 5 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | | | |
| 20 | Jian Fang Lay | 6 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 6 | Seo Hyo-won | 6 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Seo Hyo-won | 11 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 11 | | | | | | | | | 3 | Ding Ning | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | | Third place | Third place | Third place | Third place | Third place | Third place | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| 5 | Miu Hirano | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Kasumi Ishikawa | 7 | 5 | 3 | 9 | |
| 18 | Kim Song-i | 7 | 9 | 5 | 3 | | | | 8 | Miu Hirano | 11 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 3 | | | | | | | | | 4 | Cheng I-ching | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 11 | | |
| 13 | Chen Szu-yu | 11 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 | | 2 | Kasumi Ishikawa | 4 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | | | | 2 | Kasumi Ishikawa | 8 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 8 | | |
| 2 | Kasumi Ishikawa | 4 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |