Ruibo beats Moregard (Photo WTT)
China’s rising star Wen Ruibo punched the air and drank in the cheers from the thousands of fans inside Infinity ∞ Arena as he pulled off a dramatic 8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-9 win against World No.2 Truls Moregard, sealing his place in the quarterfinals at WTT Champions Chongqing.
Ruibo has been touted as one of the next great China players, following a fantastic start to the season where he won the men’s singles crown at WTT Star Contender Doha and reached the final of WTT Contender Muscat.
After losing the opening game, Ruibo then found himself staring down the barrel of a gun that Moregard had loaded with three game points. But the 19-year-old pulled off a stunning turnaround to steal the win. Ruibo was clearly relishing the opportunity of playing the World No.2 and cheered every point before pulling off his trademark jog around the court.
Into the third game, both players struggled to gain a significant advantage in the game. That tension continued to build, causing Ruibo to use his time-out when leading 6-5. After constant back and forth with his coach, Ruibo returned to the table and raced to a statement four-point lead before converting game point.
A frustrated Moregard was animated during the break, gesticulating wildly while talking with his coach, and things would go from bad to worse as he was unable to stop Ruibo. Moregard tried his best to stage a late comeback, saving three game points before the crowd erupted as Ruibo got over the line.
After the match, the young Ruibo was full of admiration for his fallen counterpart, calling Moregard a player he had always admired.
Returning Liang Jingkun is also through to the last eight, defeating compatriot Xiang Pengin 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7.
Jingkun has not played on the Series since losing to Huang Youzheng in the first round of WTT Contender Muscat in January. No.8 seed Pengin, however, had made the round of 16 at three of his last three WTT events, including Singapore Smash.
Jingkun looked set to take the first game when leading 8-4 and definitely did not look like a man who had not played in more than a month. But out of nowhere, he was undone in spectacular fashion and simply could not stop Pengin from firing off point after point to win the first.
Despite being unable to weather the storm in that first game, Jingkun again found himself in a commanding position in the second game with three game points, and this time, the 29-year-old was able to put the game to bed to tie the match up.
The third game was where this match burst into life, with several thrilling rallies where both players were blasting the ball at each other from distance. Jingkun was leading 5-2 before Pengin levelled, and as the game progressed, those rallies became more reserved. It was Jingkun who benefited from that change in pace, winning six of the next eight points and forcing Pengin into several mistakes as he took a 2-1 lead.
After a cagey start to the fourth, Jingkun again settled into his groove and found himself 6-3 up. But Pengin was determined to force a fifth game, and fought valiantly to level it at 7-7. But Jingkun , the older and more experienced of the two, put the brakes on Pengin’s resurgence, hitting four in a row to take the match.
Men’s singles No.1 seed was also in action and progressed to the next round, as Wang Chuqin defeated Patrick Franziska 11-3, 11-7, 11-3. The German has never beaten his Chinese counterpart after losing the first game, and in this one, Chuqin was lethal and set up seven game points before taking the opening game.
In the women’s singles, Sun Yingsha opened her campaign with a comprehensive straight games victory over Joo Cheonhui, as the Chinese star took her first step towards winning the event for a third time in a row, with a 11-5, 13-11, 11-8 victory.
After cruising through the opening game, Yingsha looked set to wrap this one up in minutes when leading 6-1 in the second. But Cheonhui started to narrow the gap and gave herself a lifeline by saving three game points. On the first deuce, she was centimetres away from game point after a deft lob over the net just missed the table.
After Cheonhui saved another game point, Yingsha used her time-out when 12-11 up, determined not to let another one go to waste. And this time she got it style: forced wide, the World No.1 leapt to her right and at full stretch somehow returned at an angle that was impossible for Cheonhui to reach.
In the third, Cheohui got her chance to steal a game when she established a two-point cushion at 6-8, but she was unable to capitalise, and Yingsha immediately regained the lead. Cheonhui’s last throw of the dice started with her time-out, Yingsha Sun could smell blood and hit a blistering forearm shot before serving match point.
Meanwhile, Zhu Yuling and Shin Yubin played one of the best matches of the event so far, with the latter prevailing 15-13, 14-12, 6-11, 11-8.
Yubin ended the opening game by saving two game points before missing one of her own, allowing Yuling another two bites at the cherry. But at 13-13, the former World No.1 Yuling made a mistake, opting for power but missing the table, handing Yubin her second Game Point, which she duly converted.
Yuling had wasted a number of chances in that first game and was determined to make up for it. She started the second game by winning the opening four points, but that lead was short-lived, and Yubin soon levelled things up, and the game again descended into a tight and nervy affair.
Yubin squandered three more game points at the end of the second before eventually getting over the line, and now the 21-year-old found herself 2-0 up in a match that really could have gone either way.
Yuling finally found her groove in the third game and didn’t fall behind once and got off the mark by taking seven of the last nine points. But Yuling still had a long way to go if she was going to win this one, and that task was made harder as Shin flew out of the blocks in the fourth, setting up five game points.
Yuling tried her best to narrow the deficit, getting the scores to 10-7, but Yubin called a time-out, hoping a minute at the benches would slow her opponent’s ascent. It didn’t work instantly, as Yuling pulled another one back, but Yubin was celebrating soon enough as she drove a forearm shot straight into the corner.
Earlier, Kuai Man continued her strong start to the season by beating Bruna Takahashi 11-4, 11-6, 11-13, 11-7. Heading into Chongqing, Man was riding a wave of confidence after finishing as runner-up at WTT Finals Hong Kong 2025 and then diving straight into the new season with a semifinal finish at WTT Champions Doha 2026.
