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Mike Chan

Wang Chuqin withdrew from the semi-finals of the WTT Finals on Sunday, the second world No 1 to pull out injured in the space of 24 hours, sparking concern among officials that there might be too many table tennis tournaments on the calendar.
A day after women’s top seed Sun Yingsha forfeited during her singles semi-final in Hong Kong, her compatriot followed suit before his last-four contest against Sweden’s Truls Moregard had even begun.
The absence of Wang resulted in swathes of empty seats at Hong Kong Coliseum as Tomokazu Harimoto beat Moregard 4-2 to become the Finals’ first men’s singles champion not from China. Harimoto, of Japan, had eliminated Lin Shidong, the other Chinese contender, 4-3 in the semis.
In the women’s event, China’s world No 2 Wang Manyu beat fourth-ranked compatriot Kuai Man 4-2 to retain the title she won in Fukuoka last December.
Steve Dainton, the World Table Tennis CEO, said Wang Chuqin had woken up with a bad back and “was not feeling well”.

“He tried to come and practise, and it got worse,” Dainton said. “He tried to take something to take away the pain, but it couldn’t go away. They were a bit concerned that if he plays, it may make it a bigger problem.”
Dainton, who has been overseeing the development of WTT since its establishment in 2019, added that he wanted to see the best players play.
“Of course, we want to see them play, that would be the best,” the Australian said. “We want the fans to enjoy the matches, but injuries are quite common in sports; you see it in other major sports events like tennis.
“The players have a big schedule. They play a lot of matches during the year. They get tired, too, so we understand. This is sport, and in sport, health issues can pop up.
“It’s part of organising sports events, but maybe we have to have a look in the future at the scheduling, how we manage the events and so forth, because the health of the players is the most important thing, much more important than the rest.”
World No 4 Moregard, who famously eliminated Wang in the second round of the Paris Olympics last summer, said it was a “very unfortunate” scenario for Wang and wished him a speedy recovery.
“It’s like this in every sport. All athletes in every sport need to rest sometimes, and sometimes you get an injury,” the Swede said. “It’s a very tough sport, and unfortunately, this can happen.
“[As for tournament scheduling] it also depends on how tight you do it yourself. You can play a few, and you can play a lot. We always tried to play as many as we could, but I also pulled out of two tournaments this year.
“That’s because I’m a little bit scared that it will be a big injury, and I will miss many years, so we have to be clever.”
A national team coach, who had won Olympic medals both as a player and a coach, said it was all about “striking a balance” both for WTT and the players themselves.

“WTT is like a double-edged sword nowadays,” the head coach said. “Players are earning much more prize money, but at the same time, they also have become a moneymaking machine [for the organisation].
“The decision to play in whichever tournaments rests on the shoulders of the players and their respective associations, but I’d say maybe WTT can take a look at the tournament scheduling.
“Maybe they can plan the schedule better, or spread various events on different days for those players taking part in more than one event. No player should play more than two matches in one day.”


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World Table Tennis (WTT)

WTT Finals: Wang Chuqin pulls out in Hong Kong, empty seats for Japanese champion

Wang Chuqin and Truls Moregard hug after it was announced Wang had pulled out of their semi-final. Photo: AFP

Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto (left) wins the men’s singles final in Hong Kong. Photo: Eugene Lee

Wang Manyu (front) clinches the women’s title by beating Kuai Man on Sunday. Photo: Eugene Lee

WTT Finals Hong Kong: Sun Yingsha hit by injury, loses mixed doubles final with Wang Chuqin

Sun Yingsha sat through several medical time-outs on Saturday before finally withdrawing from the semi-final. Photo: Xinhua

South Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon (left) and Shin Yu-bin beat the Chinese pair for the first time. Photo: Xinhua

Kuai Man will now meet compatriot and reigning champion Wang Manyu in the final. Photo: Xinhua

K-pop star Rain gets Hong Kong races off to electric start, thousands pack into Sha Tin

Fans watch the Longines Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin. Photo: Sam Tsang

Kana (left) travelled from Japan just to see Romantic Warrior. Photo: Stephy Zhang

Sport

Hong Kong

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Tomokazu Harimoto is first non-Chinese men’s Finals champion after Wang Manyu retains women’s title


Tomokazu Harimoto is first non-Chinese men’s Finals champion after Wang Manyu retains women’s title.


Tomokazu Harimoto

Sun Yingsha

Wang Manyu

Wang Chuqin

WTT Finals: Wang Chuqin pulls out in Hong Kong, empty seats for Japanese champion

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Tomokazu Harimoto is first non-Chinese men’s Finals champion after Wang Manyu retains women’s title

Tomokazu Harimoto is first non-Chinese men’s Finals champion after Wang Manyu retains women’s title