By love-89.com In the quarter-finals of the 27th Asian Table Tennis Championships held in Astana, Kazakhstan, yesterday, both the Chinese men’s and women’s teams made a thrilling comeback to secure their spots in the semi-finals. However, world number ones Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha experienced surprising defeats in their singles matches.
Wang Chuqin faced a tough challenge against rising Iranian star Benjamin Faraji, who is still under 15 years old and ranked only 210th in the world. Despite his previous success in mixed doubles and team events at the Paris Olympics, Wang struggled to find his rhythm and ultimately lost the match 2-3. He admitted to making too many unnecessary mistakes and felt he couldn’t quite get into the game. Last week at the WTT China Grand Slam, he had also been knocked out in the second round, raising concerns about his current form.
In the second match, rookie Lin Shidong fought hard against veteran Aghaeian, managing to pull off a narrow 3-2 victory. Lin noted the strength of his opponent’s serves and backhand exchanges, but credited his decisive attacking play in the final moments for his success.
In the “third single” matchup, Liang Jingkun secured a win over Tahir in straight sets, helping to turn the tide for the Chinese team. Wang Chuqin returned to the table in the fourth match and faced Aghaeian once more, ultimately securing a crucial 4-1 victory with a scoreline of 11-9, 11-7, 4-11, 14-12. “This match was key for the team; I couldn’t allow myself to finish with two lost points,” Wang stated after the match.
On the women’s side, Sun Yingsha, after narrowly winning the first game against North Korea’s Kim Jin-yong 13-11, suffered a surprising reversal. She dropped three consecutive games with scores of 2-11, 7-11, and 6-11. Recently crowned with a whopping 10,000 ranking points following her victory at the WTT China Grand Slam, she made history as the first athlete to achieve such a milestone since the new ranking system was implemented in 2022.
After Sun’s match, Wang Yidi stepped up to defeat North Korea’s Byeon Song-kyeong 3-1. Another non-starter, Shi Xunyao, also turned the tables to win against Cha Soo-young 3-2 after trailing twice. In a nail-biting match, Sun Yingsha confronted Byeon Song-kyeong again, managing to come back twice from behind to clinch victory with scores of 2-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-5, and 11-7. With that win, the Chinese women’s team secured their semi-final spot with a 3-1 score.
The Chinese women’s team is set to face Hong Kong in the semi-finals today at 1 PM Beijing time, with hopes of advancing to the finals scheduled for later at 10 PM. Meanwhile, the men’s team will compete against South Korea, who eliminated Japan, in their semi-final tomorrow at 1 PM. Reported by Wang Xiaoxiao (Beijing Evening News).