On the early morning of May 8, Chinese men’s table tennis star Wang Chuqin took to his personal social media account to address fans. “Hello everyone. Regarding my upcoming birthday, I do not advocate for or participate in any form of birthday fan events. The best support you can give me is to focus on the matches. Let’s cheer for Team China together!” he wrote.
According to CCTV News, on May 6, the Chinese men’s team faced Romania in the Round of 16 at the 2026 London World Team Table Tennis Championships, securing a 3-1 victory to advance to the quarterfinals. The lineup for China consisted of Liang Jingkun, Wang Chuqin, and Lin Shide.
In the first match, Liang Jingkun lost to Eduard Ionescu of Romania with scores of 5-11, 7-11, and 6-11, putting China behind 0-1. Wang Chuqin then stepped up in the second match, defeating Iulian Chirita 11-5, 12-10, 11-5 to level the overall score at 1-1. Lin Shide followed with a dominant performance against Ovidiu Ionescu, winning 11-9, 11-6, 11-4 to give China a 2-1 lead. In the fourth match, Wang Chuqin returned to face Eduard Ionescu and closed out the contest with a 11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 11-4 victory, sealing the 3-1 win for the Chinese men’s team.
The ITTF announced on its official Weibo account that China’s men’s team was scheduled to face South Korea at 7:30 PM Beijing time on the same day.
