Official: Wang Chuqin to Miss Three Consecutive Tournaments; Chinese Table Tennis Team Absent from 2025 Top Sports News

The World Table Tennis (WTT) has announced the participant list for the 2026 season opener, the Doha Champions event. Nine Chinese players will compete, including Lin Shidong, Liang Jingkun, Xiang Peng, Chen Yuanyu in men’s singles, and Wang Manyu, Chen Xingtong, Kuai Man, Wang Yidi, Chen Yi in women’s singles. The tournament takes place from January 7–11 at Lusail Sports Arena, Qatar.

Notably, China’s two core players, world number ones Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, will not participate. Wang Chuqin has been granted leave by the coaching team to rest and recover from injuries. After the recent Chinese Super League finals, he expressed a desire to step back temporarily, focus on personal adjustment, and prepare for a stronger 2026 season.

According to CCTV, Wang will miss three consecutive WTT events, including the Doha Champions, Doha Star Challenge, and Muscat Challenge, and is expected to return at the Asian Cup in February. This year, he won his first World Championships men’s singles title, claimed 14 titles in total, and became the first male player to surpass 10,000 points under the new ranking system, retaining his year-end world number one ranking.

Despite his achievements, Wang Chuqin and the Chinese table tennis team were absent from the People’s Daily 2025 Top Ten Domestic Sports News. The list highlights the National Games, Asian Winter University Games, Jiangsu City Football League, World Games, Wuhan Women’s Football AFC Championship victory, China’s fourth consecutive Sudirman Cup win, and Ju Wenjun’s fifth Women’s Chess World Championship title. Table tennis, diving, swimming, shooting, and weightlifting were excluded.

Interestingly, international top sports news for 2025 did include table tennis, focusing on WTT reforms, but did not mention individual athlete performances.