On the evening of September 28, Chinese table tennis player Wang Chuqin faced Jang Woo-jin from South Korea in the first round of the WTT China Grand Slam. He won the match 3-0 and got off to a winning start.

In the first game, Jang Woo-jin scored the first point, but then Wang Chuqin found his rhythm. He took ten points in a row and won 11-2. The second game was much closer. The score was tied at 9-9. Wang then scored two straight points to win 11-9. During the third game, Wang fell behind 2-6, but he didn’t give up. He came back strongly and won 11-9 again. The full match lasted only 21 minutes.

This is Wang Chuqin’s third time reaching the world No. 1 position in men’s singles (单打). He first became No. 1 in July 2023, making him the first male table tennis player born in the 2000s to top the world rankings. He returned to No. 1 again in March 2024. After Lin Shidong took the top spot in February 2025, Wang worked hard and regained his position six months later.

After the match, Wang said he felt a bit nervous before playing such a strong opponent. He explained that the first two rounds of any tournament are often difficult. “It wasn’t easy to meet a strong player like him in my first match,” Wang said. “He tried some new things this time, even though we’ve played each other recently.” Still, once the match began, Wang kept his focus. He shared that he was prepared for a tough fight and expected his opponent to try different shots.