Macao (China), Apr 17 (UNI) World No. 1 Lin Shidong, Sun Yingsha, and 14 other table tennis players advanced to the round of 16 at the ITTF Men's and Women's World Cup Macao 2025.
On the men's side, Lin upset Poland's Milosz Redzimski 3-1 on Wednesday.
Olympic gold medalist Wang Chuqin made a strong statement with a 4-0 victory against Tomislav Pucar of Croatia.
"It was quite agonizing before the match started, but once I focused on it, I entered a kind of selfless state -- more focused, more engaged, with a better mindset," Wang shared in the mixed zone afterward.
Olympic silver medalist Truls Moregard of Sweden defeated Brazil's Vitor Ishiy 3-1, and world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan won against China's Huang Youzheng 3-1, both securing positions in the next stage.
For women's matches, defending champion Sun defeated Chien Tung-Chuan of Chinese Taipei 3-1. World No. 2 Wang Manyu won against Germany's Shan Xiaona 4-0.
"I'm getting more in tune with the court," Sun said after the match. "Challenges may increase starting tomorrow, and I'll take it one match at a time and stay prepared," she added.
Team China's Liang Jingkun, Chen Xingtong, and Kuai Man also qualified for the round of 16. Wang Yidi, ranking third worldwide, did not manage to move forward due to Tuesday's loss to Yuan Jia Nan of France, despite sweeping Shao Jieni of Portugal 4-0 on Wednesday.
According to the ITTF, the tournament was divided into two stages, with players split into 16 groups
of three in the first stage, and the winner of each group qualified for the knockout stage. This year's World Cup features 48 male and 48 female players and runs from Monday to Sunday.
UNI/XINHUA BM