Wang shrugs off racket problem to advance with Sun in mixed doubles

Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha of China eased past Hugo Calderano and Bruna Takahashi of Brazil 11-2, 11-7, 11-4 in the mixed doubles round of 32 match at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Doha, Qatar, on Monday.

Minutes before the match began, Wang found that part of the rubber had come off his racket, and Chinese coach Xiao Zhan questioned if anyone had mishandled it. The umpire concluded that no one had intentionally torn the rubber and allowed Wang to use his backup racket.

The incident didn't slow Wang down on the table as he and Sun cruised over the Brazilians 11-2, 11-7, 11-4, to reach the round of 16. As their next opponents Ovidiu Ionescu and Elizabeta Samara of Romania have withdrawn due to injury, Wang and Sun automatically reached the quarterfinals.

"Our opponents are a new pair and we hadn't played them before," Wang said. "So, personally I felt a little insecure. We made full preparations for the match and did well from the beginning."

"Our teamwork is getting better," said Sun, who had not paired up with Wang for some months leading up to the tournament in Doha.

The ITTF and the Chinese Table Tennis Association held a special meeting over the racket incident after all matches were over on the day. The ITTF promised that it will confirm with the venue to see if there is surveillance footage of when the racket was checked and continue to investigate into how the racket was torn before making a report.

Earlier on the day, Wang swept past Leonardo Iizuka of Brazil in four games in the men's singles. He claimed the first two games 11-3 and 11-3, then scored six straight points from 5-5 to take the third 11-5 before sealing the deal 11-4 in the fourth.

Sun was just as dominant in the women's singles with a 4-0 win over Pyon Song Gyong of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) 4-0. The Chinese world No. 1 took the first game 11-2 and then the next three 11-5, 11-9, 11-4 to book her place in the round of 32.