Recap: 2026 ITTF-Oceania Championships

Australia enjoyed a spectacular week at the 2026 ITTF-Oceania Championships, collecting seven gold medals across five days of competition at the Ballarat Table Tennis Association in Victoria.

From the opening day of the Team events through to the Singles finals on Sunday, Team Australia remained at the forefront of the competition, with gold medals secured in the Men’s and Women’s Teams, Mixed Doubles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and both Singles events.

The tournament got underway on Wednesday, 26 August, with Australia making an immediate impact in the Men’s Teams.

Hwan Bae and Aditya Sareen helped Australia to a 3-0 victory in their opening match against Papua New Guinea, with the team conceding just 24 points across the three matches.

The strong start continued against New Caledonia, as Finn Luu and Nicholas Lum joined Bae and Sareen in recording singles victories to give Australia another 3-0 result.

Australia completed a perfect opening day with a third straight win, again defeating Papua New Guinea 3-0. Sareen and Bae won their singles matches before Lum and Luu combined successfully in the doubles.

The Women’s Team matched that performance, beginning their campaign with a convincing 3-0 victory over Papua New Guinea. Yangzi Liu and Connie Psihogios were in excellent form, giving up just 22 points across the three matches.

Australia then produced another 3-0 result against Tahiti, with Liu and Jiamuwa Wu winning the singles contests before Wu and Minhyung Jee secured the doubles rubber.

Both Australian teams entered the second day in strong positions and ultimately finished it on top of the podium.

The Men’s Team first had to overcome Tahiti in the semi-finals, with Bae and Luu winning the singles matches before Lum and Luu combined to seal the tie in the doubles.

New Zealand stood between Australia and the gold medal, but there was little to separate the host nation from another clean sweep.

Sareen got Australia off to the perfect start, before Lum produced a 3-1 victory over August Xiao. Lum then returned alongside Luu for the doubles, with the pair securing the final point to give Australia the Men’s Team title.

The Women’s Team followed a similar path, defeating New Caledonia 3-0 in the semi-finals. Psihogios and Liu both recorded straight-set singles victories before teaming up to complete the win.

The final against New Zealand was equally emphatic. Psihogios and Liu again produced dominant performances, securing a 3-0 victory without dropping a set and giving Australia two Team gold medals.

Attention then turned to the Mixed Doubles, where Australia once again filled the knockout stages.

Bae and Minhyung Jee, Sareen and Psihogios, Luu and Wu, and Nicholas Lum and Liu all progressed through the Round of 16 and into the quarter-finals.

All four Australian combinations then recorded straight-set victories in the quarter-finals to set up an all-Australian semi-final line-up.

Luu and Wu defeated Bae and Jee 3-0 to reach the final, while Lum and Liu survived a thrilling 3-2 contest against Sareen and Psihogios.

The final saw Lum and Liu produce another composed performance, defeating Luu and Wu 3-0 to claim the Mixed Doubles gold medal.

Australia added two more golds to the tally on Saturday, with the Men’s and Women’s Doubles titles both heading to the host nation.

Luu and Lum were among the first Australian pairings to reach the Men’s Doubles semi-finals, defeating Papua New Guinea’s Geoffrey and David Loi 3-0 in the quarter-finals.

Bae and Sareen also progressed, setting up two Australia-New Zealand semi-finals.

Lum and Luu defeated Dela Pena and Eli Ho 3-0, while Bae and Sareen overcame Shu and Xiao to ensure another all-Australian final.

Luu and Lum continued their impressive partnership, defeating Bae and Sareen 3-0 to secure their fifth successive gold medal together.

The Women’s Doubles produced another all-Australian final, with Liu and Psihogios and Wu and Jee both progressing through their respective quarter-finals and then overcoming New Zealand opposition in the semi-finals.

Liu and Psihogios ultimately claimed the title together for the first time, defeating Wu and Jee 3-1.

By the time the Singles events reached their final stages, Australia had already enjoyed an extraordinary week — but there was still more to come.

Four Australian women progressed into the quarter-finals, with Psihogios defeating New Zealand’s Yelena Yi 4-0 and Wu overcoming Anzhuo Han after recovering from losing the opening set.

Jee and Liu then completed an Australian clean sweep of the final four, both recording 4-0 victories against New Zealand opposition.

Liu continued her impressive week in the semi-finals, recovering from losing the opening set against Wu to win the next four and secure her place in the final.

The second semi-final produced one of the most memorable matches of the tournament, as Psihogios and Jee went toe-to-toe over seven sets.

In a contest filled with momentum swings, Psihogios eventually prevailed 4-3, 6-11, 14-12, 11-4, 11-4, 13-15, 8-11, 11-7.

The all-Australian final then saw Liu and Psihogios meet once again, just days after winning the Women’s Doubles title together.

Liu produced another outstanding performance to defeat Psihogios and claim her fourth gold medal of the Championships, as well as her fourth ITTF-Oceania Singles title.

The Men’s Singles provided another dramatic finish to the tournament.

Sareen came agonisingly close to the semi-finals after taking a 3-1 lead against New Zealand’s August Xiao, only for Xiao to fight back and claim the next three sets.

Lum progressed with a 4-0 victory over Alfred Dela Pena, while Bae defeated Dean Shu to join his fellow Australian in the semi-finals.

Luu also secured his place in the final four, defeating Eli Ho 4-1.

The first semi-final was an all-Australian battle between Bae and Lum, with Bae producing a superb performance to win 4-0 and book his place in the final.

Luu then defeated Xiao 4-1 to set up an all-Australian showdown for the Men’s Singles gold medal.

The final proved to be a fitting conclusion to an extraordinary Championships, as Bae took the opening set before Luu responded by winning the next two to lead 2-1. Bae then regained control, taking the fourth and fifth sets to move within one of the title.

Luu, however, refused to let the opportunity slip away, as he claimed the final two sets to complete a remarkable comeback and secure his first ITTF-Oceania Singles title.

With Luu and Liu taking the final two gold medals on offer, Australia finished the Championships with seven titles and an outstanding record across all five days of competition.

From the Teams events through to the final ball of the Singles competition, Team Australia delivered a performance to remember on home soil in Ballarat.