IFP - The Iranian men’s national Ping-Pong team has been qualified for the top division of the World Team Table Tennis Championships for the first time in history, after it defeated Ukraine to advance to the final match of the second division. 



The Iranian side, composed of Nima Alamian, Noshad Alamian, Afshin Norouzi, Miad Lotfi and Amin Ahmadian, trounced Ukraine 3-1 on Saturday.

It is the first time after the 1979 Revolution that the Iranian table tennis team advances to the top level of the prestigious international sports event, according to a Farsi report by Varzesh3 website.

In group stage, Iran defeated Puerto Rico 3-0 (3-0,3-0,3-0), lost to Kazakhstan 2-3 (3-0,1-3,3-0,2-3,1-3), edged past USA 3-2 (2-3,3-0,0-3,3-1,3-0), defeated Spain 3-0 (3-1,3-2,3-2), and finally beat Luxemburg 3-0 (3-1,3-0,3-1) in its last match.

The competition was attended by 72 teams from across the world.

The first division is called the Championships Division, made up of the best 24 teams which are divided into four groups of six teams for the first stage of the event.

The final winner of this division will be crowned world champion.

The Men’s team tournament of the 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships got underway on April 29 and will run until May 6, 2018 in Halmstad, Sweden.

Iran’s women’s team, meanwhile, lost to Chile 3-2 and failed to qualify for the semi-final.