However, some things did remain the same, one name stood out above all others.

…………Ma Long won the men’s singles and thus joined the legendary group of Hungary’s Victor Barna and Chinese compatriot, Zhuang Zedong, who likewise won three in succession

…………Liu Shiwen emerged the women’s singles champion after having twice previously been the runner up; in addition she won the mixed doubles with Xu Xin and thus completed a career full house of World Championship titles.

…………Against all odds, Mattias Falck reached the men’s singles final, the first Swede to achieve the distinction since Jan-Ove Waldner when he won in 1997 in Manchester

…………China completed a clean sweep of all five titles, the ninth time they have achieved the feat but the first since 2011 in Rotterdam

…………Xu Xin, the no.2 seed, suffered a shock first round exit, later Fan Zhendong departed unexpectedly in round four; Xu Xin lost to Frenchman Simon Gauzy, Fan Zhendong to colleague Liang Jingkun

…………On debut both An Jaehyun and Liang Jingkun progressed to the men’s singles semi-finals

…………Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu and Wang Chuqin all won gold on debut, Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu secured the women’s doubles title, Wang Chuqin partnered Ma Long to men’s doubles success

…………First ever medals at a World Championships for Spain and Portugal; Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu partnered Spain’s Alvaro Robles to runners up spot in the men’s doubles event, the pair beating Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia and João Monteiro in the semi-finals

…………Ding Ning relinquished her women’s singles throne, at the semi-final stage she was beaten by Liu Shiwen; in the fifth game Liu Shiwen did not afford Ding Ning a single point, it was the same in the fifth game in the final when facing Chen Meng

…………Adriana Diaz reached the third round of the women’s singles event; the first player from Latin America to progress such a stage