Wang Chuqin kept alive China’s hopes of success in the singles at the ITTF World Cup in Macau with a 4-2 win over France’s Felix Lebrun on Friday.
Wang gave up a tough opening game despite leading 9-6 and 10-9, when world number 6 Lebrun fought back to take it 13-11. The Chinese left-hander found himself in trouble again in the second game, trailing 2-7, but turned the game around with a campaign to win 11-9.
Lebrun regained control in the third, going 6-2 ahead and withstanding Wang’s momentum from 4-9 to 9-10 before closing out 11-9 for a 2-1 lead. From there, Wang raised his level, dominating the fourth 11-5 after breaking away from 6-3, and took control of the fifth from 6-6 to seal it 11-6 for a 3-2 advantage.
The sixth game provided the most intense drama of the night. Wang raced to a 7-3 lead and later went ahead 10-8, but Lebrun saved many match points to pull the score to 13-13. Under intense pressure and error-free as China’s last man standing, Wang held firm, eventually closing out the game 15-13 to complete an emphatic 4-2 victory.
“For this match in particular, I think my consistency was better than before,” Wang said. “Today, in a very difficult situation, I kept tracking point by point, telling myself that winning just one point would give me a little chance, constantly sending myself that good sign. In the end, I was able to hold on and rediscover some good feelings.”
The world No. 1 is the only Chinese to reach the last eight, and will face Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic, who ousted Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov 4-1, on Saturday to reach the semi-finals.
