Wang Chuqin (Photo WTT)
The Chinese men’s team restored the feel-good factor to its campaign after completing a come from behind 3-1 victory over Romania at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London.
Following a tough couple of days over the weekend with surprise defeats at the hands of Korea and Sweden, a ruthless response against Australia in the Round of 32 put China’s title ambitions back on track. On Wednesday, the team returned to action looking to build on that result.
However, they found themselves on the backfoot again as Eduard Ionescu threw China an early curveball, upstaging Liang Jingkun 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 to give Romania the lead.
Not quite the start China had envisioned, but the team would soon find its groove through Wang Chuqin, who extended his perfect record in London with a relentless display against Iulian Chirita 11-5, 12-10, 11-5.
Next up it was Lin Shidong’s turn to raise the roof at OVO Arena Wembley, producing his devastating best to see off Ovidiu Ionescu in straight games 11-9, 11-6, 11-4. Chuqin made sure of the win not long after, avenging Jingkun’s defeat with a 11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 11-4 victory over Eduard Ionescu to send China to the quarterfinals.
“In the first match, I had already played against him at US Smash 2025, and it was a very close encounter, I was even trailing behind in some games. So, this time, I was well prepared. Even when I was trailing, I felt staying composed was very important for me. After managing to come back and win the second game, I felt a huge release in the third. Eduard was also in very good form, since Liang Jingkun lost the opening match. A positive thing for me was that Lin Shidong won the third match, which gave me much more freedom mentally going into the fourth match,” said Chuqin.
However there was heartbreak for England, as their men’s team gave everything in their Round of 16 match but were unable to get past Brazil in a tie that went the distance.
Brazil took a commanding lead as Hugo Calderano beat Tom Jarvis 11-6, 11-8, 13-11, before Guilherme Teodoro also got a straight-games 16-14, 12-10, 11-6 win over Connor Green. But there were signs that England could trouble Brazil in the second match, with Green saving four game points and forcing one of his own in the first two games.
The host nation got one back through Samuel Walker, who recovered from an early setback with a convincing 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 win over Leonardo Iizuka. Jarvis then returned to the table and made amends for his earlier loss, beating Teodoro 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 12-10.
Against the odds, England had drawn level and were now one win away from the quarterfinals. The responsibility fell to Green, but standing opposite him was the World No.5 in Calderano.
The first two games were close, with Green taking a late lead at 7-8 in both, before the Thrill from Brazil fired four winners in a row to lead 2-0 and closed out the third comfortably to win 11-8, 11-8, 11-4.
Just before that match on Table 2, Ukraine pulled off a stunning win against the USA, who had match point in the fourth, as the women’s teams battled it out over five games and two hours and 44 minutes.
Margaryta Pesotska started things off with a 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 win over Jessica Reyes Lai, before Sally Moyland drew level by beating Veronika Matiunina 11-6, 14-12, 11-6. Lily Zhang then faced off against Tetyana Bilenko to put the USA 2-1 up with 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9 victory.
Moyland and Pesotska then went hammer and tongs in the fourth, with the quarterfinals in touching distance for the USA. Pesotska was denied pame point in the first, and saved two before eventually going down, but she recovered with a lethal 11-2 in the second.
Moyland reestablished the lead and then had two match points to send the USA into the quarterfinals, but Pesotska saved to force a fifth game. From there, the Ukrainian didn’t look back, not going behind once to win 12-14, 11-2, 12-14, 12-10, 11-7 as her side completed a dream fightback.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong, China’s showdown with Chinese Taipei went right down to the wire, with twists and turns throughout a 2 hour 59-minute thriller.
Despite winning efforts from Doo Hoi Kem and Ng Wing Lam, the match would still go to a decider with Yeh Yi-Tian emerging victorious twice on the Chinese Taipei side of the equation.
With the match on the line, the fate of the two teams now rested on the shoulders of Su Tsz Tung and Peng Yu-Han. It was nip and tuck between the players in games one and two, with just a couple of points deciding them, but with Su taking both games, she had the wind in her sails. The Hong Kong player didn’t look back from there, capitalising on her commanding lead and win 13-11, 11-9, 11-4 to give her team the edge over Chinese Taipei.
