# 2017 ITTF Men's World Cup

The 2017 ITTF Men's World Cup was a table tennis competition held in Liège, Belgium, from 20 to 22 October 2017. It was the 38th edition of the ITTF-sanctioned event, and the fourth time that it had been staged in Belgium.
In the final, Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov defeated fellow German Timo Boll, 4–2, to win his first World Cup title.

## Qualification

The following list of players was confirmed on 25 September 2017, based on the qualification system set by the ITTF.
| No. | World Ranking (August 2017) | Player | Qualified as |
| 1 | 1 | Ma Long | World Champion |
| 2 | 31 | Quadri Aruna | Africa Cup winner |
| 3 | 32 | Lin Gaoyuan | Asian Cup winner |
| 4 | 104 | Gustavo Tsuboi | PanAm Cup winner |
| 5 | 212 | Kanak Jha | PanAm Cup North American qualifier |
| 6 | 293 | David Powell | Oceania Cup winner |
| 7 | 4 | Dimitrij Ovtcharov | Europe Top 16 winner |
| 8 | 12 | Lee Sang-su | Asian Cup 2nd place |
| 9 | 52 | Chen Chien-an | Asian Cup 3rd place |
| 10 | 35 | Alexander Shibaev | Europe Top 16 2nd place |
| 11 | 13 | Simon Gauzy | Europe Top 16 3rd place |
| 12 | 6 | Jun Mizutani | Continental Cup qualifier |
| 13 | 30 | Kou Lei | Continental Cup qualifier |
| 14 | 7 | Timo Boll | Continental Cup qualifier |
| 15 | 39 | Omar Assar | Continental Cup qualifier |
| 16 | 40 | Jeong Sang-eun | Continental Cup qualifier |
| 17 | 14 | Chuang Chih-yuan | Continental Cup qualifier |
| 18 | 9 | Koki Niwa | Continental Cup qualifier |
| 19 | 81 | Cédric Nuytinck | Host nation representative |
| 20 | 15 | Marcos Freitas | Wild card |

## 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 October 2017.
* Ma Long (semifinals)
* Dimitrij Ovtcharov (champion)
* Timo Boll (final)
* Jun Mizutani (quarterfinals)
* Koki Niwa (quarterfinals)
* Lin Gaoyuan (quarterfinals)
* Simon Gauzy (semifinals)
* Chuang Chih-yuan (first round)
* Lee Sang-su (first round)
* Marcos Freitas (first round)
* Omar Assar (first round)
* Chen Chien-an (Preliminary round, withdrew)
* Kou Lei (first round)
* Quadri Aruna (first round)
* Jeong Sang-eun (first round)
* Alexander Shibaev (quarterfinals)
* Cédric Nuytinck (Preliminary round)
* Gustavo Tsuboi (first round)
* Kanak Jha (Preliminary round)
* David Powell (Preliminary round)

## Preliminary stage

The preliminary group stage took place on 20 October, with the top two players in each group progressing to the main draw.
Chen Chien-an withdrew from the competition on the opening day due to illness.
| | Group A | Lee | Aruna | Jha | Points |
| 9 | Lee Sang-su | | 4–3 | 4–3 | 4 |
| 14 | Quadri Aruna | 3–4 | | 4–2 | 3 |
| 19 | Kanak Jha | 3–4 | 2–4 | | 2 |
| | Group B | Freitas | Kou | Powell | Points |
| 10 | Marcos Freitas | | 4–0 | 4–0 | 4 |
| 13 | Kou Lei | 0–4 | | 4–0 | 3 |
| 20 | David Powell | 0–4 | 0–4 | | 2 |
| | Group C | Shibaev | Assar | Nuytinck | Points |
| 16 | A. Shibaev | | 4–3 | 4–0 | '4 |
| 11 | Omar Assar | 3–4 | | 4–3 | 3 |
| 17 | Cédric Nuytinck | 0–4 | 3–4 | | 2 |
| | Group D | Jeong | Tsuboi | Chen | Points |
| 15 | Jeong Sang-eun | | 4–1 | w/o | 4 |
| 18 | Gustavo Tsuboi | 1–4 | | w/o | 3 |
| 12 | Chen Chien-an | w/d | w/d | | |

## Main draw

The knockout stage took place from 21–22 October.
| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Ma Long | 11 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Omar Assar | 7 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 4 | | 1 | Ma Long | 13 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Lee Sang-su | 5 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 5 | Koki Niwa | 11 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Koki Niwa | 11 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | 1 | Ma Long | 11 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 10 | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Lin Gaoyuan | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Timo Boll | 6 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 12 | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Marcos Freitas | 3 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 5 | | 6 | Lin Gaoyuan | 11 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 18 | Gustavo Tsuboi | 10 | 8 | 5 | 11 | | | 3 | Timo Boll | 5 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 13 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Timo Boll | 12 | 11 | 11 | 13 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Timo Boll | 12 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 2 | |
| 4 | Jun Mizutani | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Dimitrij Ovtcharov | 10 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 11 | |
| 14 | Quadri Aruna | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | | | 4 | Jun Mizutani | 7 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 8 | | | | | | | | | |
| 15 | Jeong Sang-eun | 11 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 9 | | 7 | Simon Gauzy | 11 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 11 | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Simon Gauzy | 9 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | 7 | Simon Gauzy | 11 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 8 | Third place | Third place | Third place | Third place | Third place | Third place | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| 8 | Chuang Chih-yuan | 10 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 9 | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Dimitrij Ovtcharov | 6 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 11 |
| 16 | Alexander Shibaev | 12 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 11 | 16 | Alexander Shibaev | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | 1 | Ma Long | 11 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 11 | |
| 13 | Kou Lei | 4 | 5 | 11 | 12 | 6 | | 2 | Dimitrij Ovtcharov | 9 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | 7 | Simon Gauzy | 5 | 13 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 9 | |
| 2 | Dimitrij Ovtcharov | 11 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |