China tops Japan for 12th straight title

In the men’s team final of the World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, China—featuring Wang Chuqin, Lin Shidong and Liang Jingkun—defeated Japan 3–0 to win the title, securing a 12th consecutive championship. In the women’s team final concluded earlier, China also beat Japan to take the crown, marking the 20th time in Chinese table tennis history that the team has swept both world team titles.

After the match, Wang Chuqin, named the men’s team MVP at this year’s championships, said: “Everyone—whether it was Lin Shidong, Liang Jingkun or me—made the fullest preparations to face London by preparing for difficulties. Of course, in the group stage, since it was their first time truly playing in this team event, it was inevitable that there would be some drop-off, but whether for me or for the team, we still very much believed they had the strength to beat any player, and the facts were as we thought. At any time, I believe in my partners, my team, and I firmly believe that in the end we would win this team championship.”

Speaking about winning MVP, Wang said: “It’s true that this was also my first time taking part in a team event as the first singles player, and overall my performance was relatively much steadier. I think I also did what I said before the competition—hoping to do my utmost to give them a sense of security so they could play freely. In fact, the pressure was very great in every match. Each time I felt it was very hard to play, and I didn’t know how I would perform, but when I really got onto the court, I perhaps had to be stronger than before, or rather more resolute.”

Liang Jingkun said after the match: “Starting from the group stage, I actually didn’t find the feeling completely. In the second match of the knockout stage I also lost. From the third match onward, after I finished playing, my fighting spirit gradually came back. From trailing 0–2 in the semifinal to trailing 0–2 today, I think I found the previous feeling. It’s also been a long time since I won a key fifth game, and it was under such difficult circumstances, while I was down 0–2. Many thanks to the entire Chinese table tennis team for the support and保障 provided for us, and thanks as well to the fans who came to London and the fans cheering for us in front of their TV screens—we had the motivation to win this championship and to fight for it.”

Lin Shidong said: “First of all, I’m very happy to win the title. This championship was also not easy. Thanks to the team, thanks to the country—for actively guiding and teaching me after I lost in the semifinal, giving me confidence and reassurance, including the association’s leaders, for trusting me again in the final and letting me play again. No matter what position I played, I was very happy and very honored to be able to play again, and I’m also very happy to close out with a perfect result. These ten-plus days were actually very grueling; the gains and the regrets were both very big. Win or lose, I gained a lot—whether in facing top players, and even right at the start in the group stage I encountered some difficulties. In the end, being able to win and take this championship together with everyone, going forward I still need to learn and to summarize some things.”