Men's singles champion Wang Chuqin (centre) of China with the podium winners during the presentation ceremony. (Photo by XHINHUA)
Doha, Qatar: The curtain came down in the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships 2025 in exhilarating fashion yesterday with China once again asserting its dominance by securing four out of five gold medals on offer in Doha.
In the presence of a host of top officials, including Qatar Olympic Committee President H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, International Olympic Committee President Dr. Thomas Bach and the International Table Tennis Federation President Ms. Petra Sorling and a massive number of spectators at the Lusail Multipurpose Arena, Chinese players clinched the men’s and women’s singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles titles, while three players - Wang Chuqin, Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu – bagged multiple medals.
IOC President Thomas Bach hands over the trophy to women's singles champion Sun Yingsha of China.
World No. 2 Wang Chuqin overcame the reigning World Cup winner Hugo Calderano of Brazil 4-1 (12-10, 11-3, 4-11, 11-2, 11-7).
“I saw myself as a challenger to Calderano, who is a new World Cup champion and has been in top form, especially after a great game yesterday,” Chuquin said after the memorable title win, his first singles gold in the World Championships.
“But I had a strong will to fight and was very hungry for victory,” the 25-year-old added.
While Chuquin collected his 10th medal, his ninth gold at the World Championships, Calderano entered the history books becoming the first Brazilian and Latin American to win a men’s singles medal.
Chuquin spent 46 minutes to secure his victory while his compatriot Sun Yingsha had to battle for almost 90 minutes to retain her women’s singles title.
The world No. 1 had to fight back twice to defeat second-seeded compatriot Wang Manyu 4-3 (11-8, 12-10, 8-11, 5-11, 12-10, 11-13, 11-7), adding to the mixed doubles crown she had claimed earlier in the tournament with Wang Chuquin.
“My faith wavered at one point, but I just hung in there and fought to the last point,” Yingsha said after winning her ninth World Championship gold.
“Manyu and I have been playing against each other since we were children. Our games are always very close,” the 24-year-old said.
Barely 30 minutes after the singles thriller, Manyu partnered with Kuai Man to clinch her second podium spot at Doha 2025.
The duo overcame Austria’s Sofia Polcanova and Romanian partner Bernadette Szocs in straight games, (11-6, 11-6, 11-5) capping a remarkable week in which they didn’t drop a game.
In the men’s doubles, Shunsuke Togami and Hiroto Shinozuka ended Japan’s 64-year title drought when they defeated Chinese Taipei’s Kao Cheng-Jui and Lin Yun-Ju 3-2 (6-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6) as the nine-day paddle fiesta concluded.
Japan’s Hiroto Shinozuka (left) and Shunsuke Togami in action against Taiwan’s Kao Cheng-Jui and Lin Yun-Ju during the men’s doubles final. (Photo by AFP)
