Ahead of the 2026 World Team Championships in London, Chinese Central Television released a short documentary following China’s men’s team during its closed-door training camp, featuring exclusive interviews with Wang Chuqin, Lin Shidong, Zhou Qihao, Xiang Peng, Liang Jingkun, and head coach Wang Hao.
April 20, 2026.
With one week to go before the World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, Team China’s 37-day closed-door training camp entered its final stretch.
The men’s team cut training from three sessions a day down to two.
Wang Hao: The closer we get to the tournament, the more important it is to have everyone physically and mentally ready. Their emotions, their confidence, their overall feel. That’s what matters most right now.
Wang Hao: Honestly, there’s more concern than before. More things on my mind too.
Compared to previous teams, this lineup still lacks proven results. That’s just reality. A lot of them are playing in their first World Team Championships, so naturally they’re dealing with pressure they’ve never experienced before.
Twenty days before the London World Team Championships, the Chinese Table Tennis Association announced the roster:
Wang Chuqin, Lin Shidong, Zhou Qihao, Xiang Peng, and Liang Jingkun.
Liang Jingkun, the oldest player on the squad, had traveled with the team to the World Championships twice before, but never played in the knockout stage.
Lin Shidong, Xiang Peng, and Zhou Qihao were all selected for that team event for the first time.
Zhou Qihao: Everybody’s got a first time. But once you actually become part of it, the pressure ramps up fast.
Before, I was mostly there as a sparring partner, so I never really felt that level of pressure. Now that I’m truly preparing to compete, I finally understand how much the veterans and core players have been carrying all these years. It’s way heavier than I imagined.
That morning, Xiang Peng was training alongside Wang Chuqin, now the centerpiece of China’s men’s team.
This is Wang Chuqin’s fourth time preparing for the World Team Championships.
As the only player on the roster with knockout-stage experience in the team event, the responsibility of leading the team brought a very different kind of pressure this time.
Wang Chuqin: Before, I probably didn’t feel this much pressure. But now, what I’m carrying is completely different.
People’s expectations of me are different now. The way people see me is different too. Of course, I want to contribute more to this team.
Wang Hao: Sometimes a match can turn on just one or two key points.
With Wang Chuqin, nobody even needs to remind him about pressure. He puts it on himself already.
As he’s gotten older, taken on more responsibility, and matured mentally, you can really feel the change in him now. He’s really grown into someone this team can lean on.
Wang Chuqin: Before I started winning major titles, I honestly didn’t feel qualified to talk about carrying the team. But after winning big tournaments, my confidence naturally grows. The whole mindset changes. And technically, I start pushing myself even harder.
The 2025 World Championships in Doha took Wang Chuqin to another level.
In the men’s singles final, he defeated Brazil’s Hugo Calderano to win his first World Championships singles title.
That title in Doha was more than just a personal milestone for Wang Chuqin.
Its significance went far beyond the singles championship itself.
Especially now, with international players rising fast and the men’s field deeper than ever, that victory gave Chinese table tennis a huge boost.
Wang Chuqin: When you finally reach a level you once looked up to, you naturally think back to the players you admired before. I kept thinking about how they handled things, and little by little, I tried to move in that direction myself.
And when people began doubting the men’s team, I really wanted to step up and speak for us.
Xiang Peng: The biggest thing about Brother Tou is how much he carries on his own shoulders.
Especially this past year, he’s basically been carrying the team alone in most tournaments. And the way he handles himself off the table really moves all of us too.
The 2026 Macau World Cup was the final major event before the London World Team Championships.
As the only Chinese player to reach the quarterfinals, Wang Chuqin carried the responsibility of bringing the men’s World Cup title back to China.
Commentator: This isn’t only about personal glory. He’s carrying the honor of Chinese table tennis too.
Facing 19-year-old Japanese rising star Sora Matsushima in the final, Wang Chuqin dropped the opening game and later trailed 8-10 in Game 2. But he fought back to take it 18-16.
Wang Chuqin: That was unbelievably hard. I’ve never played a tougher match.
Commentator: Wang Chuqin gets jammed up on the receive. Matsushima opens with the banana flick.
Wang Chuqin: A few years ago, I probably would’ve folded there. But now I’m mentally tougher than before.
My belief, my composure, my resilience, they’ve all gotten much stronger.
Commentator: That hard-fought World Cup title helped Wang Chuqin grow once again, and gave Team China a huge boost heading into the World Team Championships.
Wang Chuqin: I just hope I can handle my role well.
I want to give my teammates a sense of confidence and security, so they can fully play their game. So we can all go all out together in London.
Xiang Peng: Watching Wang Chuqin fight through that kind of pressure in the final against Matsushima really motivated me even more.
Lin Shidong: Watching that final, I was nervous myself. I kept wondering what I’d do in that situation. Would I actually be able to handle it?
Lin Shidong did not compete at the Macau World Cup.
Since late 2025, recurring shoulder and back injuries have forced him to miss multiple domestic and international events.
Lin Shidong: For a while, I really couldn’t train because of the injuries. Most of my time was spent rehabbing. Recently, I finally had a solid stretch of training again, and that’s helped me feel a lot more settled.
Born in 2005, Lin Shidong was the youngest player on the London roster.
After the Paris Olympics, he rose rapidly, winning five WTT men’s singles titles in four months.
In February 2025, after winning the WTT Singapore Smash, he climbed to World No. 1 at just 19 years and 10 months old, becoming the youngest men’s world No. 1 in table tennis history.
Lin Shidong: World No. 1 is just a ranking. What matters more to me is actual results.
But just as expectations around the young man continued to grow, his momentum suddenly stalled.
Since winning the Singapore Smash in February 2025, he had gone more than a year without another singles title.
Lin Shidong: Everything happened really fast back then. I reached that position very quickly, but maybe underneath it all, I still wasn’t strong enough or fully ready for it yet.
Mentally, I got thrown off at times and started losing control of the match’s rhythm.
Wang Hao: Lin Shidong is still very young. I told him he has to truly embrace the pressure. I try to structure his whole day, so he stays fully locked in instead of getting distracted, like a kid sometimes does.
Honestly, I want every part of his schedule planned out. Give him structure and help him follow through in training.
Lin Shidong: Communication and preparation with the coaches have become much more detailed lately. That morning’s training session brought Lin Shidong a special practice partner:
Ma Long, a veteran of nine World Team Championships.
Lin Shidong: What Ma Long emphasized most was being more detail-oriented in daily training. I also asked him what I should do as someone playing in his first World Championships and potentially getting on the table.
To help the team prepare for London, Ma Long and Xu Xin both returned to the training base despite already stepping away from the national team.
From morning until night, they stayed in the training hall with the players, offering emotional support and sharing tactical experience firsthand.
Ma Long: Your pushes are all landing in the same spot.
Xiang Peng: I kept wondering why my short game wasn’t improving. Turns out my technique was the issue.
Wang Hao: The players are under huge pressure, so they can become mentally irritated and worn down. When Ma Long and Xu Xin talk to them from a different perspective, the players actually calm down and listen more.
Lin Shidong: That was really helpful.
Xu Xin: Relax mentally first. Get yourself into a positive mood.
Liang Jingkun: Give it a try.
Mental strength affects match performance more than people think. Sometimes it matters even more than technique. One bad mental lapse can change an entire match.
If you’re mentally strong enough, even technical weaknesses won’t affect you that much. Mindset is everything.
Fluctuating confidence, illness, age, and declining physical condition had all affected Liang Jingkun over the past year.
During this training camp, he was far from his best form.
Liang Jingkun: Before, I could usually train hard for a while, find my rhythm again, and play myself back into form through a tournament. Now it feels harder and harder, especially when it comes to confidence.
Honestly, the World Championships in Doha hit me really hard. Even now, I still haven’t fully recovered from that loss.
In the semifinals of the 2025 World Championships in Doha, Liang Jingkun fought back from both 0-2 and 2-3 down to force a deciding game.
But after leading 3-0 in the final game, he lost ten straight points and gave away seven match points.
Liang Jingkun: I went from leading 3-0 to trailing 3-10. I fought back to 9-10… and still lost.
Commentator: After Liang Jingkun saved six straight match points, Hugo finally closed it out.
Liang Jingkun: That loss still hasn’t left me. After that match, it felt like everything slowly started slipping away, little by little.
Sometimes you’re hanging on by pure belief, you know? And once that feeling’s gone, you lose.
Liang Jingkun has spent 14 years on China’s national team and competed in two previous World Team Championships.
As the oldest player on the roster, his return to the team event carried an even stronger sense of responsibility.
Liang Jingkun: Right now, our team’s going through a difficult stretch.
Wang Chuqin’s been carrying so much by himself, and I want to help take some of that pressure off him.
Even if my form isn’t perfect, at least I still have experience.
Liang Jingkun is no stranger to critical situations.
At the 2025 Asian Championships in India, China used the exact same lineup as this year’s World Team Championships squad.
The semifinal against Japan went the full five matches, with Liang Jingkun sealing the win in the decider.
Liang Jingkun: Team events are definitely more nerve-racking.
In singles, if you lose, it’s just your own match. But in a team event, every loss gives away a point. Nobody wants the team losing because of them.
To contribute in London, Liang Jingkun pushed himself hard during closed training despite not being at his best.
He woke up early every day for conditioning and lost a noticeable amount of weight.
Wang Hao: One thing about Liang Jingkun is that once he truly commits to something, he’ll do everything possible to see it through.
Liang Jingkun: When I don’t want to get up in the morning, when I’m exhausted, I tell myself this might be my last real push. I have to hold on.
And when things get tough, I remind myself how much work I’ve already put in. I can’t give up that easily.
Wang Hao: Honestly, the pressure we put on the players in practice is sometimes even greater than in matches. Training is often tougher than actual competition.
Only then can players still hold up when things don’t go perfectly during a match.
On the final day of closed training, the men’s team gathered in the training hall at 1:10 pm for their second team match simulation of the day.
An hour earlier, the five main players had already completed one round of matches.
Head coach Wang Hao wasn’t satisfied with the level they showed, so he asked Liang Jingkun, Zhou Qihao, and Xiang Peng to play again after only a short break.
Wang Hao: Why did I make you play again this afternoon?
This men’s team can’t relax for even a second. No complacency whatsoever.
If only the three of you were playing at the World Championships, could you still win? Could Liang Jingkun lead Zhou Qihao and Xiang Peng to victory? That’s why I want every one of you to go all out this afternoon.
Wang Hao: In a team event, all five players have to be ready.
I’m not asking anyone to score two points on their own. If the three players who go out there can each do their job and get one point, that’s enough. So you have to trust each other, not depend on each other.
In the opening game, Liang Jingkun faced Zhou Kai again after losing to him 1-3 earlier that morning.
This time, Liang responded with a straight-games win, putting his side up 1-0.
The second game featured Zhou Qihao against Huang Youzheng.
For most of the 12 years since joining the national team in 2014, Zhou Qihao had been more used to acting as a sparring partner for the main players.
It wasn’t until he won the internal trials in March 2026 that he finally earned his first chance to compete at the London World Team Championships.
Zhou Qihao: The moment you win the trials, everything changes instantly. You realize you’re representing China at the World Championships. That pressure hits you right away. You feel like you should be happy, but honestly, I couldn’t fully enjoy it. Mostly, I just felt nervous.
Wang Hao: Sometimes I joke with Zhou Qihao. Last year, you were still practicing with the main players. Now they’re the ones practicing with you.
You haven’t experienced a major event before. You don’t even know what it feels like yet. So just go out there and swing. Sometimes being fearless comes from not knowing any better.
Zhou Qihao: My sense of responsibility definitely feels stronger now.
I’ve always cared deeply about the national team. As long as I’m still here, I still have a chance. And I still want to fight for it.
Zhou Qihao defeated Huang Youzheng 3-0, extending the overall lead to 2-0.
The third player up was Xiang Peng, born in 2003, facing the even younger Wen Ruibo.
In the second round of the internal trials, Xiang Peng had secured his London spot by defeating Wen Ruibo in the final.
Xiang Peng: I was genuinely happy. Really happy from the bottom of my heart. It was the first time I’d earned a spot through direct internal competition. Breaking through that barrier gave me a huge boost in confidence.
Facing the aggressive Wen Ruibo, Xiang Peng dropped the opening game 3-11.
Under the team’s practice match rules, the main player started Game 2 down 0-2.
Wang Hao: Before, the main players gave you handicap points. Now you’re the one giving points away. The expectations on them now are stricter than ever, honestly, sometimes even unreasonable.
Xiang Peng narrowly lost the second game 10-12, leaving him with no room for error in Game 3.
Xiang Peng: Your role’s different now. Now, whenever I run into problems, I try to imagine what it would feel like in a real match situation. If that moment really comes, how do I adjust? How do I break through?
Maybe before, I would’ve let myself off the hook in situations like that. But now, I don’t want to waste a single opportunity to toughen my mental resolve.
Trailing 5-8, Xiang Peng reeled off six straight points to take Game 3, 11-8.
But in Game 4, he still couldn’t hold off Wen Ruibo’s attacks and eventually lost the match 1-3.
Wang Hao: What’s wrong? Losing isn’t the end of the world. Nobody’s blaming you. Nobody said you had to win 3-0. This is a team event.
It’s not singles where you lose and pack your bag and go home. This is about the whole team.
Wang Hao: China hasn’t cruised through every team event in history either.
You have to trust your teammates. Trust that they can step up and deliver points for the team too.
Even though it was only an internal competition, the intensity and atmosphere already felt extremely close to a real top-level team battle.
In the fourth match, Liang Jingkun returned to the table but lost 2-3 to defensive player Li Tianyang, pushing the tie into a deciding fifth match.
By then, the simulation had already lasted three hours.
In the deciding match, Zhou Qihao faced Chen Yuanyu.
After falling behind 1-2 in games, Zhou quickly trailed 0-6 in Game 4.
Zhou Qihao: Everyone’s afraid of losing. The key is how you adjust mentally and turn that into a stronger desire to win.
At 10-8, Chen Yuanyu held match point.
Zhou Qihao: In a team event, if you step on the table, you have to score. I kept asking myself, if I’m really out there fighting for China one day, can I actually do it?
Zhou Qihao fought back to take the game 14-12 and force a decider.
Wang Hao: There’s pressure, brief, excitement. Only when you experience this kind of atmosphere do you understand what a real big-match atmosphere feels like.
In the deciding game, Zhou Qihao closed it out 11-5.
Zhou Qihao: I hope I can contribute something to this team. And whenever I’m needed, I hope I can help us win.
Wang Hao: Seeing that hunger in the players, that desire to get on the table and fight, that’s incredibly important.
Maybe people think this team looks weaker overall compared to previous generations. But as long as Team China stays united, we’re still the strongest team in the world.
Wang Hao: Everybody saw what Qihao did in that fifth match. That wasn’t just about winning one match. That’s what team competition is all about.
That’s the mentality this men’s team needs.
Losing isn’t the problem. Being afraid to lose is.
This is a team. We fight together.
No matter how you play, you can’t lose your fighting spirit.
Since the World Team Championships began in 1926, the tournament has now spanned an entire century.
Across 57 editions, China’s men’s team has captured 23 titles, including an unprecedented streak of 11 consecutive championships.
Lin Shidong: None of us wants to be the one who lets the team down. We all want to keep the honor of Chinese table tennis going. You can see it in everyone’s training intensity, their expressions, even their eyes. Everybody wants this badly.
Liang Jingkun: This could very well be my last World Championships. I hope people remember me as someone who always fought with heart.
Zhou Qihao: I still believe in the power of the team. Other people can doubt us, but we can’t doubt ourselves.
Xiang Peng: I still believe Team China is the strongest. Of course, we’ll face challenges. But Team China has never been afraid of challenges.
Wang Chuqin: In sports, nobody stays unbeatable forever… except the Chinese table tennis team.
Since we carry that honor and legacy, we have to turn that into confidence and belief.
Wang Hao: To me, it comes down to two words:
Must win.
At this World Team Championships, I want this team to show the world what we’re made of. And I hope this men’s team backs it up on the table.
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