This 26-minute interview is a deep dive into Wang Chuqin’s quiet reflections and raw honesty, captured by CCTV’s Face to Face. What shocked me most was that he actually considered walking away from table tennis after the Paris Olympics. And there’s more, but you’ll have to watch it yourself. 😉
It’s clearly a very Chinese-style interview, where the guest is guided to reflect and, in some ways, glorify suffering. But I’m glad Wang stayed true to himself and kept sharing his real thoughts, just like he always does.
On May 29, just one day after returning from Doha, Wang Chuqin sat down for an exclusive interview with Face to Face. The Doha World Championships lasted nine days. Wang competed in both men’s singles and mixed doubles. After grinding through a packed schedule and tough matchups, he came out on top in men’s singles and took the mixed doubles crown with partner Sun Yingsha.
Interviewer: You’ve had matches back-to-back. How intense does it get?
Wang Chuqin: Every match feels like a marathon. A marathon where you must stay super focused the entire way through. A marathon is not just about hanging in there, but going all in, chasing every win. You make it through one day to survive till the next. And the next day, you’re back at it, still fighting to win, fighting to stay alive.
For the Chinese national table tennis team, the Doha World Championships were seen as a major exam in the run-up to the LA Olympics. Veterans Ma Long and Fan Zhendong sat this one out. Instead, a younger squad was sent. Wang Chuqin, who had just turned 25, was the one carrying the high expectations.
Interviewer: You said the whole tournament felt like a marathon. But each match felt more like a sprint. So it’s a mix of short sprints packed into a long grind. Did you feel worn out at any point?
Wang Chuqin: Of course. But you’ve got to process that on your own. You’ve got to talk yourself through it. Convince yourself you’re not tired.
Interviewer: Can you really tell yourself that? Just say “I’m not tired” and you’re good?
Wang Chuqin: Your beliefs shape your mindset and energy. Your mindset and attitude every day come down to how strong your belief is. If you’ve got real belief and a goal in the match, then maybe you don’t feel tired.
Interviewer: What is that belief, exactly?
Wang Chuqin: It’s just the desire to win. That fire to win, one match at a time. And I’m willing to give everything for it.
For Wang Chuqin, the last marathon-like stretch was ten months ago at the Paris Olympics. There, he competed in three events: mixed doubles, men’s singles, and the team event. He won China’s first-ever Olympic gold in mixed doubles alongside Sun Yingsha, and teamed up with Ma Long and Fan Zhendong to secure China’s fifth consecutive Olympic men’s team title.
Unfortunately, in the men’s singles round of 32, Wang suffered a surprising loss to Sweden’s Truls Moregard. At the time, Wang was ranked No.1 in the world and had won all eight of their previous matchups. It was a match he was widely expected to win, so the loss was crushing. Many pointed to the broken racket incident the day before as a turning point.
On July 30, 2024, after winning the mixed doubles final in Paris, Wang left his racket on the court-side while preparing to pose for a photo with the Chinese flag. A photographer stepped on the racket, snapping the handle. The next day, in the men’s singles round of 32, Wang was forced to compete with a spare racket, and was eliminated in a devastating defeat.
Wang Chuqin: I’m the kind of person who really relies on using something I’m familiar with. And when it comes to rackets, I’m even more attached.
I’m the type who sticks to routine. Once I get used to something, I don’t like changing it. Even when I go to the restroom, I always pick the same stall. Haha. During tournaments, I’ll even try to practice at the same table I used the day before.
Interviewer: What were you looking for? Was it a mental thing?
Wang Chuqin: Something that made me feel calm, secure, and grounded. Perhaps it was simply a mental cue or self-suggestion.
Interviewer: It’s like a soldier going to war and suddenly their gun is swapped out. How big of an impact was that for you?
Wang Chuqin: Before the Olympics, I only trained and competed with my main racket. It felt just right, so I kept using it. Then, when I suddenly had to switch, I picked up the spare, and it just felt strange.
The truth is, the broken racket wasn’t the only issue. Wang Chuqin was also struggling with injury during the Olympics. Intense overtraining had led to a rotator cuff injury, and at one point, even lifting his arm became difficult.
Interviewer: How hard was that stretch for you?
Wang Chuqin: Honestly, when I look back at that time, I still don’t want to go through it again. If I had to relive it now, it would still feel just as tough. Your emotions and mental state really matter. They shape how you see things, how you deal with them, and where you go from there.
Interviewer: As painful as it was, that experience became something valuable to who you are today. Without it, would you have come this far?
Wang Chuqin: Exactly. It was going through that period that helped me understand myself better. Even now, when I think back to that match, I still wonder, if my racket hadn’t broken, if my shoulder had been fine, would I really have been able to carry the weight of the Olympics? I’m still not sure.
Interviewer: Looking back, do you think part of it was that you couldn’t afford to lose at the time?
Wang Chuqin: I do. I think I just couldn’t handle losing. And deep down, I didn’t have the confidence to believe I could keep going for another four years.
For more than half a year after the Paris Olympics, Wang Chuqin fell into a slump. He struggled in competition and faced a wave of criticism off the court. It was the darkest time of his career.
Wang Chuqin: The first three months were rough. Right after the Olympics, those three months hit me really hard.
Interviewer: But in 2024, you were just 24 years old, right in your prime. You had just won Olympic mixed doubles gold with Sun Yingsha. People saw that you were on the rise. Why were those months so difficult?
Wang Chuqin: Even though I won the Olympic gold, deep down I wasn’t satisfied with how it went. I kept asking myself, why did something that had never happened in Olympic history happen to me? And I’d been playing all three events (singles, men’s doubles, and mixed) in one tournament for years. My arm had never reacted like that, not even once. Why was it right after the Olympic training camp, when we got to Deauville, that my shoulder suddenly stopped working?
I was taking painkillers every day and even got a cortisone shot back in Beijing. I thought once the meds kicked in during the tournament, maybe it’d be fine. But my arm still wouldn’t lift.
For a while, I was really disappointed. I had given everything, so when all that happened out of nowhere, it was like I’d let myself down. It didn’t feel fair. I’d won two gold medals, but I was still the one getting all the blame.
Interviewer: What kind of impact did all the outside noise have on you?
Wang Chuqin: Honestly, I was in a really vulnerable place back then. I didn’t have much confidence. I was kind of lost. Sometimes I’d wonder, why is it so exhausting just to be alive? Why does everything feel so hard?
Interviewer: Did you ever consider backing out?
Wang Chuqin: Yes, I had all kinds of chaotic thoughts, and quitting came up more times than I can count.
Interviewer: What stopped you?
Wang Chuqin: I just couldn’t let go. I asked myself, if I really walked away now, would I regret it, would I miss table tennis? And I realized I would. I wasn’t ready to walk away from it. I still wanted to see how far I could go. I couldn’t just throw in the towel.
In October 2024, during the men’s team quarterfinals at the Asian Championships, Wang Chuqin lost to a little-known 14-year-old from Iran, Bonyamin Faraji.
Interviewer: How did you lose to a 14-year-old?
Wang Chuqin: The ball (seamless ball) and the table were totally different from what we usually use. It was way off, way beyond what I was used to. And since it was my first match, I didn’t take it too seriously or prepare properly. I was already focused on their No.1 guy, Alamiyan, a lefty. I lost that match, then lost in singles too, and not long after, I lost again in Frankfurt.
Interviewer: Were those losses more about your skill or your mindset?
Wang Chuqin: None of them were about my skills. It was all mental.
Interviewer: Sounds like you understood what was going on. So how did you pull yourself out of it?
Wang Chuqin: It was thanks to my friends, my family, my coaches, and everyone around me kept giving me support. Wang Hao and Xiao Zhan were always encouraging me. By the time the Fukuoka Finals came, I knew it was on me. I had to save myself. At that point, I couldn’t afford another loss. If I lost again, not just the coaches and the team, but even I might start to lose faith in myself.
One month later, the tide finally turned. At the WTT Finals in Fukuoka, Wang Chuqin crushed Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto in a 4–0 sweep, clinching his third straight men’s singles title at the event.
Wang Chuqin: After that win, I gradually began to think more clearly and more positively. You can’t just blame outside stuff. You can’t just complain about the situation. You’ve got to look inward and figure out what’s really going on.
Interviewer: So what did you find when you looked in?
Wang Chuqin: First, the racket incident. Sure, I didn’t leave it on the ground, I left it on the suitcase. But could I have been more careful? If I had just put it in the racket case, the guy wouldn’t have even had the chance.
And then, there was my shoulder injury. If I had been more careful with my daily training, or eased up a bit at certain points, not pushed myself so hard… maybe it wouldn’t have gotten that bad. That’s how I see it. I don’t just focus on the external factors. That only shows where you’re still weak. If you’re really strong, those things won’t shake you.
The racket incident at the Paris Olympics made Wang Chuqin realize his weak spot. He’d been relying too much on just one main racket. So he started training with his spare, and got almost obsessive about breaking it in.
On May 19, 2025, during the second round of mixed doubles at the World Championships in Doha, Wang noticed his racket had started peeling apart. He switched to the spare and kept going. This time, unlike in Paris, the spare didn’t feel like a stranger anymore.
Interviewer: So, after your racket issue on May 19, did you finish the tournament using only the spare racket?
Wang Chuqin: Yeah, I did. I used the main one in the earlier matches, but after that incident, including that mixed doubles match and the singles the next day, I stuck with the spare. After I won that match, the spare actually felt great. So I just kept using it.
Interviewer: So the ease you had this time came from the pain you went through in Paris?
Wang Chuqin: I’m actually kind of glad it happened at the Olympics. This time, I didn’t feel off.
From that point on, Wang only got stronger with the spare racket in hand. He and Sun Yingsha ended up winning the mixed doubles title, locking in a third straight gold in WTTC for Team China. Then, he locked in and went after the men’s singles crown.
On May 25, the men’s singles final in Doha. Wang Chuqin faced Hugo Calderano from Brazil. Many fans were nervous about this matchup. Just a month earlier, the two had met in the World Cup semifinals in Macau.
Wang had taken a 3-1 lead and was holding match point. But then, things flipped. Hugo came back strong, taking three straight games to win it 4-3.
Interviewer: You were up 3-1 and were right there about to win. How did it fall apart like that?
Wang Chuqin: It was mostly my mindset. Losing after leading is actually common in pro sports. When you’re ahead, your mindset shifts. You’re not playing like when you’re chasing anymore. Once the thought of “I need to win this” creeps in, it messes with your shot choices and focus. You start thinking about results, not about what you’re doing point by point. Even your tactics shift. Do you start playing it safe, hoping for lucky shots, instead of sticking to your usual aggressive game? All of that matters.
So in the end, Wang walked off with regret. Hugo held the trophy high, becoming the first South American to win a singles title at the World Cup. For Wang, it stung. He already had team gold, mixed doubles, and men’s doubles titles from the Olympics, World Championships, and World Cup. The only thing missing was singles. Despite being ranked world No. 1 for a long time, he kept falling short in the major singles matches. He needed that one singles crown to prove it to himself.
Interviewer: I heard you stayed in the locker room a long time after that match. What was going through your head?
Wang Chuqin: It felt like I’d just managed to build myself back up again. Leading up to the World Cup, I’d had some strong wins. I felt like I was making real progress and was excited for the tournament. But then it ended like that…
Interviewer: Hard to accept, huh?
Wang Chuqin: I couldn’t forgive myself. Not when I had the lead and still lost.
Interviewer: However, I feel that loss ultimately turned out to be a gift.
Wang Chuqin: For sure. Without that loss, I don’t think I could’ve won here.
Even though it had only been a month, when Wang stood on court again in the World Championship final, facing Hugo once more, he wasn’t the same.
Interviewer: Did seeing him again make you feel less confident? Somehow?
Wang Chuqin: This time, I saw myself as the challenger. And when I stepped onto the court, I could feel the crowd’s energy, like everyone was on my side. It gave me a fearless feeling and made me want to enjoy the finals stage.
Interviewer: Looking back, your results and performance have gradually improved. Would you say your mental toughness has grown the same way?
Wang Chuqin: Definitely. You have to go through a lot unless you’re a true genius. Especially in the Chinese national team, in table tennis, no one just shoots straight to the top. Everyone has to hit rock bottom before they can bounce back.
However, the match didn’t start smoothly. In the first game, Hugo came out strong and rattled off five straight points and jumped to a 10-7 lead.
Interviewer: That must’ve been tense.
Wang Chuqin: Yeah, I was down 10-7. He took five points in a row, and honestly, I didn’t have a solution. I didn’t think I played poorly or made mistakes. He just played incredibly well. You have to accept that sometimes. Your opponent’s gonna play some great shots. But no one stays that hot forever.
Interviewer: So it’s like, I’ll let you have your moment, but I’ll wait.
Wang Chuqin: I think so. I can handle you playing well. I can even accept that I’m not playing my best. However, I can remain calm, think clearly, and find a way to win. Then, he started to make mistakes. That’s when I felt a shift. His mindset cracked a little, and I caught it.
Wang Chuqin took full advantage. He saved three game points, then stole the game 12-10. From there, he controlled the pace and the rhythm. Hugo struggled to keep up.
Wang won four straight games and finally got what he had been chasing for years. He won his first singles title on the major stage.
He also became the first men’s singles world champion in table tennis born after the year 2000.
Interviewer: After beating Hugo, you looked up and smiled, and held that smile for a while. That felt like an emotional release. What was it exactly?
Wang Chuqin: Honestly… I don’t know about others… But for me, most of the pressure hasn’t come from the team. It comes from outside. Maybe people had high expectations of me. When I didn’t deliver, maybe they were frustrated, maybe they criticized me, maybe they just didn’t like me, or whatever it was.
But once you finally achieve something that matters, it feels like the struggle paid off. It’s like a movie playing in your brain, and suddenly, everything wraps up. And deep down, you’re proud of yourself. Like, “You made it. Wang Chuqin, you really made it.”
Wang Chuqin was born in 2000 in Jilin, China. As a child, he was often sick, so his parents encouraged him to take up table tennis. He was tough, hardworking, and quick to grasp things. With his rare left-handed grip, his progress came fast. In 2015, he earned a spot on the national team. In 2018, he helped China win gold in the men’s team event at the Asian Games in Jakarta. That same year, he took the men’s singles title at the Youth Olympic Games. He proved himself as one of China’s rising stars, but also showed flashes of youthful arrogance.
Interviewer: You had a suspension before. You threw your racket when you were 19?
Wang Chuqin: Honestly, I really didn’t mean to throw it that far. I just wanted to throw it onto my own side of the table. I was caught up in the moment and didn’t think it could fly that far. It was totally out of control.
Interviewer: Why were you so mad? Where did that anger come from?
Wang Chuqin: It was a mix of reasons. Mostly just being young and…
Interviewer: reckless.
Wang Chuqin: I was cocky back then. I had a few early wins and started thinking I was all that. And then suddenly…
Interviewer: Fell apart.
Wang Chuqin: Suddenly, I lost. I couldn’t accept it. But I wasn’t mad at anyone else. It was just me being frustrated with myself.
Interviewer: That fight with yourself got you suspended for three months.
Wang Chuqin: What I regret most wasn’t the three-month suspension itself. What really got to me was that right after those three months, the COVID pandemic started. So I basically had no matches for over a year, maybe even two. There were just no competitions.
If I’d had the chance to play more during those years, especially against international players, maybe everything would’ve been different. Maybe I would’ve grown up a little sooner. I might not have had to wait until now to really grow up.
Interviewer: All we’ve talked about really comes down to one word: growth. Last year, you turned 24, your zodiac year. This year, at 25, starting a new twelve-year cycle. Looking back now, how do you see your growth?
Wang Chuqin: From my point of view, it’s been a tough road.
I did okay in youth tournaments, but the transition to the adult level came with numerous setbacks. It took me a long time to really break into the main squad.
Then the suspension and the pandemic cost me a lot of chances. The chances to go through things I probably should’ve figured out earlier. You only grow by playing more matches and dealing with more situations. That’s how you start to understand what you’re really supposed to do.
Interviewer: However, I believe that every step in life counts for something.
Wang Chuqin: Exactly. All those experiences helped me stop repeating the same mistakes. They pushed me to dig deeper into my own potential. Mistakes give you the chance to grow, right?
I’m still figuring it out. Still digging. Everyone’s path is different. Doesn’t matter if the road’s fast or slow. As long as it leads somewhere good, it’s worth it.
At the medal ceremony for men’s singles at the World Championships in Doha, Wang Chuqin stepped onto the top podium and lifted the St. Bride Vase. When the Chinese national anthem played, the audience noticed his eyes getting red.
Interviewer: Out of the three major titles, you’ve now won a precious men’s singles gold at the World Championships. There are still two more waiting for you. Do you believe you’ll get them one step at a time?
Wang Chuqin: I don’t even dare to think about it. But maybe when the time actually comes, I will.
Interviewer: Don’t you always push yourself hard? Why not think about it?
Wang Chuqin: I do push myself, but I’m not the type to talk tough just to sound confident.
I’d rather prove myself through actions, not slogans. That kind of talk feels too vague to me. If I can’t promise something, I don’t want to say it.
Interviewer: In your post-match interview, you said winning this title helped you understand the heavy responsibility Ma Long and Fan Zhendong carried. What made you say that?
Wang Chuqin: I had played in a few major tournaments with them over the last two or three years, but back then, I was still just a kid in the squad. Even if I lost a match in team events, we always ended up winning overall.
Interviewer: You had the big guys carrying the load up front.
Wang Chuqin: Right. Deep down, I just felt like they wouldn’t lose.
Interviewer: But this time, they weren’t there. Did it feel different mentally?
Wang Chuqin: Now I’m the one with the most experience on the team. At first, I had a hard time accepting that. I mean, I could barely take care of myself. How was I gonna look after anyone else?
Interviewer: And now with this win?
Wang Chuqin: After this win, what I care about more is unity.
The legacy of the Chinese national table tennis team wasn’t built by any one person. It’s about each generation carrying the torch forward. I hope I can help bring everyone together. We are supposed to stay united and face challenges side by side. That’s what I took away from this tournament.
Read Also
Wang Chuqin: Calm After the Climb, 2025 WTTC Doha
What Happened on Wang Chuqin’s Racket at 2025 WTTC Doha
Wang’s 2025 World Cup: A Fight, Not a Fall
Wang Chuqin and the Mystery of China’s Coaching System Neglect
Wang’s Wild Ride at Asian Championships 2024
Interviews
Wang Chuqin on WTTC Final Win vs Hugo Calderano: “I Treated It Like a Regular Game” – YouTube
Making History as Left-Handed Champion, Wang Chuqin Reflects on 2025 WTTC Journey – YouTube
“Giving my all to be my best self.” Wang Chuqin Shares Struggles Behind Olympic Gold & 2024 Setbacks
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