On April 3, the competition for the 1/8 finals of the 2026 Macau Table Tennis Singles World Cup ended. Wang Chuqin and Chen Xingtong advanced to the quarterfinals after a fierce battle, while young player Wen Ruibo unfortunately stopped.
In the men's singles field, Wang Chuqin defeated 19-year-old French player Felix Le Brun 4-2. This duel was extremely stalemate. After the game, Wang Chuqin admitted that it was very difficult for him to win. "Before the game, I thought it would be a fierce battle. Felix is now one of the strongest players in the world. We met in the first round (of the knockout round). I believe neither of us will be too comfortable."
Wang Chuqin
Wang Chuqin said that Felix showed a strong desire to win in the game and made a different response to his own skills and tactics, which made the game far more difficult than expected. His previous games were too smooth. When facing such a powerful opponent, he failed to quickly find a suitable game rhythm in the early stage, resulting in being passive. However, as the game progressed and after the big score was tied at 2-2, Wang Chuqin gradually entered the state. "You can feel that he fought hard from the beginning. I made a lot of unnecessary mistakes in the early stage, which led to the score falling behind. But in fact, I worked hard to chase points in every game. As I chased, I gradually found the feeling of the game."
Wang Chuqin
When asked about how to complete the comeback 11-9 after falling behind 2-7 in the second game, Wang Chuqin bluntly said that he was on the edge of a cliff at that time, "Competing with an opponent of Felix's level, once you fall behind too much, it will be difficult to have a comeback in the future. So in that game I He tried his best to fight and hold on to the score. He also mentioned that his opponent's mentality fluctuated to a certain extent when he was leading, which also created opportunities for his reversal. "In fact, I also led in the first game but ultimately lost. This situation is normal in high-level duels. "
Regarding the crucial sixth game, Wang Chuqin reviewed the twists and turns, "At that time, we were 5 to 1 ahead, but we could not kill the game as soon as possible. It was mainly due to luck and laziness. I wanted to wait for my opponent to make mistakes. After taking the lead, I did not take the decisive action and calculate carefully as before, nor did I take the initiative to create more stalemate rounds, so the game continued until the end of the game."
After the game, Wang Chuqin communicated with Felix, and there was a sympathetic friendship between the two. Wang Chuqin expressed that he highly recognized Felix's strength and dedication. "He is already an Olympic bronze medalist at his age, and his playing style belongs to the traditional Chinese (straight-ball) style. To be able to practice to such a level in France, it can be seen that he has great persistence and investment in table tennis."
Felix Le Brun
In the next round, Wang Chuqin will compete with Darko Jochik for a spot in the semi-finals. Darko defeated German player Ocharov 4-1 in the 1/8 finals and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals. He has been in good form recently. Regarding this upcoming competition, Wang Chuqin said that he will go all out, "After entering the top 16, the opponents in each round are very strong. The competition in the men's line is extremely fierce now. Every game is actually walking on thin ice. I hope I can have a good performance."
Another national table tennis player Wen Ruibo met Chinese Taipei player Lin Yunru in the men's singles 1/8 finals, and finally lost with a total score of 1-4, stopping in the top 16.
In the women's singles, Chen Xingtong defeated Adriana Diaz 4-2. After Chen Xingtong took a 2-0 lead in the first two games, he was defeated by his opponent in two consecutive games due to insufficient grasp of key points. After that, Chen Xingtong quickly adjusted his state and won the crucial fifth game. In the 6th game, Chen Xingtong got the match point at 10-6, but was chased to a 10-level tie by Diaz. Fortunately, Chen Xingtong did not repeat the same mistake in the end and secured the victory 13-11.
Chen Xingtong (right)
Chen Xingtong reviewed the game after the game, "The opponent also had many chances to win, but at this time, I was still able to score point by point and persevered in the disadvantageous situation." In the quarter-finals, Chen Xingtong will face South Korean player Shin Yubin, who defeated Germany's chipping veteran Han Ying 4-0.
In the remaining games, Egyptian player Hannah defeated French player Yuan Jianan in 7 games and became a "dark horse". She will face Sun Yingsha in the quarter-finals. Hannah's unconventional playing style and the spin brought by the hexagonal racket will pose a unique test to the world's number one Sun Yingsha.
Japanese player Honoka Hashimoto defeated Brazilian player Bruna Takahashi 4-1. Her opponent in the quarter-finals was Wang Manyu.
