It happened again. Wang Chuqin’s racket got damaged right before the match, at the biggest event of the year: the 2025 World Championships in Doha. The trauma from the Paris Olympics, when a photographer cracked his racket on court, came rushing back. It hit like a sudden PTSD flash.
I woke up to a friend’s message, and my stomach twisted. It wasn’t just concern about Wang’s performance. It felt like a kind of self-inflicted panic, like a nightmare was happening to me all over again. If I felt that way just watching, I can’t begin to imagine how much heavier it must have felt for Wang, especially with the umpire pushing him to start the match.
Yes, when Wang pointed out the rubber issue, the umpire said, “nothing (is wrong). It’s yours like that from the beginning. I’m sure. It’s good now, so we can start, please.”
How ridiculous is that? A professional umpire couldn’t recognize that a peeling rubber was a serious issue?
But the true ridiculousness was this: that same racket had just passed inspection in the control room. It came out of a sealed bag handed over by the umpire. If it was already damaged before inspection, how did it pass? If it wasn’t damaged yet, then what happened after the inspection? Something clearly went wrong in that short window, and nobody’s explaining it.
People think China dominates the table tennis world, that CTTA controls everything like a puppet master. But the truth, at least in Wang Chuqin’s case, tells a different story. Since I started following table tennis last August and looked back on Wang’s career, I’ve never seen CTTA step in for him the way they have for other Chinese players. When umpires made bad calls against or mistreated him off the court, no one from the system backed him up. No official complaints. No explanations. Even after probably one of the most disgraceful incidents in Olympic table tennis history, there was just silence.
So honestly, I expected the same silence again.
But this time in Doha, something was different. Coach Xiao stepped in right away, rather than telling Wang to calm down or saying “complaining is useless,” like he did in Paris. And CTTA, for the first time, filed a formal complaint with the ITTF and demanded an investigation. Even the media picked up on it, especially some Chinese outlets, which usually criticize their athletes first. I don’t think they suddenly care more about Wang, it’s just that this incident was so public and absurd, there was no excuse to ignore.
What stood out the most, though, was Wang himself. Unlike in Paris, he didn’t freeze or blame himself. He stood firm and refused to play with the broken racket, despite the umpire’s attitude. He insisted on switching to his spare racket, and he did. After the match, he didn’t hold back. He said, “I don’t know why this keeps happening to me.” And then, “As a player who’s gone through this twice now at major tournaments, I’m really disappointed in the organizers and umpires.”
No kidding. That kind of honesty isn’t easy to hear from a Chinese player. It meant something.
In the end, I can’t help but feel like these repeated racket problems and the officials’ response might point to something deeper. Not just bad luck or sloppy officiating. Maybe something tied to race, nationality, politics, or personal bias. I won’t go too far just yet. I’ll keep watching and see what else turns up.
📌 Update on May 19: After the match, the ITTF and CTTA held an emergency meeting about the incident. CTTA protested, asked for surveillance footage, and called for an investigation. They also asked to let staff follow rackets during inspection, safer containers, and video recording of the entire process. The ITTF agreed to some measures and promised a written report after further investigation. But whether the whole truth will come out is still unknown. For now, it’s another reminder of how fragile fairness can feel, and how vulnerable players are when the system meant to protect them fails to deliver.
📌 Update on May 21: Some fans dug up footage of the umpires handling rackets before the match, and their behavior looked off. It’s hard to believe that a match at the highest level of world table tennis could be treated like some routine, boring task by the people running it.
📌 I’ll keep following this story and share any updates that come up.
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Wang Chuqin and the Mystery of China’s Coaching System Neglect
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