Favourites Shidong And Chuqin Cruise At Worlds

Doha, Qatar: Title-favourites Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin advanced with impressive wins as seeded players continued to fall on another exhilarating day at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals Doha 2025 at the Lusail Sports Hall and Qatar University yesterday.

The men's singles title contenders, World No.1 Shidong, two-time Olympic Chuqin, along with women's second seed Wang Manyu and third seed Chen Xingtong – all representing China – stayed on course for the finals.

Men's top seed Shidong had the better of Hong Kong's Lam Siu Hang 4-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-4, 11-6) to book a Round of 32 clash with Swede Kristian Karlsson who had earlier dispatched Spaniard Alvaro Robles 4-0 (11-7, 11-8, 13-11, 11-9).

Wang Chuqin of China celebrates after scoring a point against Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong.

World No. 2 Chuqin also advanced similarly, overpowering Hong Kong veteran Wong Chun Ting (12-10, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7) victory over the 33-year-old Hong Kong veteran.

“He is a quite strong player and I tried not to make mistakes,” Wang said after the win over the 33-year-old former World Cup silver medallist.

“By taking the first set, I felt I was on the right way,” the seven-time world champion said.

Brazil's Hugo Calderano, the third seed, also advanced with a dominant 4-0 win over Tunisia's Wassim Essid. China's fifth seed Liang Jingkun ended the run of Portugal's Marcos Freitas with a comfortable 4-0 victory.

Meanwhile, Sweden's 15th seed Anton Kallberg halted Qatar's hope Mohammed Abdulwahhab in the men's singles round of 64, posting a straight-game victory that came in 33 minutes.

Kallberg, a Paris Olympics team silver winner, took a strong two-game lead with scores of 11-6, and 11-6 before Abdulwahhab posted a spirited fight-back in the third game. Despite the home star's resilience, Kallberg made it 3-0 with an 11-9 game before closing out the contest 11-7 to seal a 4-0 victory, also ending the home favourite's maiden World Championship run.

England's Tom Jarvis, fresh from his stunning victory over 10th seed Dang Qiu yesterday, maintained his impressive form with a commanding 4-0 win over Romania's Iulian Chirita.

In one of the biggest upsets on the men's singles draw yesterday, France's Simon Gauzy stunned China's 16th seed Lin Gaoyuan 4-2 (2-11, 11-8, 13-11, 6-11, 11-1, 11-3) to book another high profile meeting with Chuqin in the Round of 16. Kazakhstan's Kirill Gerassimenko also made headlines, toppling Japan's world No. 20 Hiroto Shinozuka 4-2 in a 60-minute round-of-64 duel.

The women's singles saw several top seeds progress with ease.

China's Xingtong defeated Serbia's Izabela Lupulesku 4-1, while her compatriot Shi Xunyao (16) made light work of South Korea's Park Gahyeon 4-0.

Japan's fifth seed Miwa Harimoto sealed a 4-0 win over Germany's Yuan Wan, while her compatriot Mima Ito (8) was equally impressive in overcoming Argentina's Rosalba Aguiar with a similar scoreline.

Romania's Bernadette Szocs (11) ended the impressive run of Chinese Taipei's Li Yu-Jhun with a controlled 4-1 victory, while Brazil's Bruna Takahashi (13) overcame Turkey's Sibel Altinkaya 4-1.

In another huge upset, Gaia Monfardini eliminated Hong Kong's 28th seed Doo Hoi Kem in a seven-game thriller 4-3 (11-9, 11-1, 7-11, 4-11, 11-11, 6-11, 11-7) to become the first Italian woman to reach the Round of 32 at the World Championships in over a decade.

Croatia's Lea Rakovac also toppled a seed, defeating South Korean Suh Hyo-won (17) 4-2 to enter the World Championships last-16 for the first time.

Earlier, in the round of 64, Romania's Andreea Dragoman stunned Austria's world No. 12 Sofia Polcanova 4-2.

In the mixed doubles, top seeds Lin Shidong and Kuai Man of China entered the quarter-finals with a strong 3-0 win over Austria's Robert Gardos and Sofia Polcanova, while fifth seeds Sora Matsushima and Miwa Harimoto of Japan overcame Egypt's Youssef Abdelaziz and Mariam Alhodaby by the same scoreline.

The men's doubles saw Japan's second seeds Hiroto Shinozuka and Shunsuke Togami survive a round of 16 scare to edge Singapore's 10th-seeded teenagers Quek Izaac and Pang Koen 3-2 in a 42-minute thriller. China's No. 3 seeds Lin Gaoyuan and Lin Shidong had no such difficulty as they swept past Romania's Iulian Chirița and Eduard Ionescu 3-0 in just 23 minutes.

Wang Manyu of serves during the women's singles round of 64 match against Laura Watanabe of Brazil.

China's No. 2 seeds Wang Manyu and Kuai Man stamped their authority on the women's doubles draw, entering the quarter-finals with a quick 3-0 win over Hong Kong's Lee Hoi Man and Kong Tsz Lam. The unseeded Spanish-Romanian duo of Maria Xiao and Adina Diaconu produced the upset of the morning session, toppling Hong Kong's sixth seeds Ng Wing Lam and Zhu Chengzhu in straight games to add colour to Doha 2025.

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