Not yet satisfied. Wang Chuqin survives the swings


21 April 2023

Defending champion Wang Chuqin came from behind to see off a whirlwind performance from Jang Woojin in the Men's Singles at WTT Champions Macao 2023. The World No.2 managed to overcome a one game deficit to win 3-2 (9-11, 11-3, 13-15, 11-8, 11-7).

 

The duo came in to the match having not faced each other in four years. Wang had the better of Jang in the past, leading their head-to-head 3:1. One of lefty's wins however came in a five-game thriller, so there was no doubt Jang could push his higher-ranked opponent to the limit.

 

FOLLOW EVENT ACTION 

 

Despite the wait for their fifth encounter, the two seemed to start where they left off. The opening exchanges thrilled the Macao crowd who were in aw of the acrobatic display. Jang's elastic style of play matched perfectly with Wang's sharp shot-making. It was the righty however who had the edge early on, breaking away to a 10-5 lead.

 

Nerves seemed to set in as Jang failed to convert four game-points in a row, and looked to have let the advantage slip. A well-timed drive however closed out the game 11-9 to give first-blood to the World No.18.

 

Things looked to be getting out of hand for Jang as he lost the opening three points in the third, and at 3-6 the matched was slipping away.

 

But Wang had found his feet in that near comeback and kept the momentum going. The 2nd seed stormed to a 9-0 lead and quickly closed it out 11-3. But the electric feet of the athlete out of Korea Republic didn't let him down. Dancing around the table, Jang clawed his way back to deuce and went on to take the game 15-13 for a 2-1 lead.

 

Despite the scoreboard advantage, the road soon ended for Jang as he ran out of steam. Wang Hao on the bench for the Chinese superstar saw that the tactics were quick to change, with the defending champion mixing up his serves and short play to wrong-foot his opponent.

 

From the fourth game on, Wang Chuqin had the match under his control, leading from beginning to end. The 2nd seed took two games in a row and firmly booked his place in the semifinals.

 

Despite the win, Wang felt he could have produced a better performance out on Infinity Arena.

 

"I was not satisfied with my overall performance. I didn't finish the match when I could have. I gave my opponent too many chances to catch up, including the fifth and fourth sets when I was leading by a large margin. I felt like he knew what I was thinking all the time, and I felt like I could have done better. After I lost the third set, I calmed down a little bit in the fourth. But I still did not do well, I always want to go straight to score, and had less patience." Wang Chuqin

 

Wang's opponent in the semifinal will be Tomokazu Harimoto who earlier in the session defeated Darko Jorgic 3-1 (11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7).

 

Check out the complete results so far from Day 5 here.