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Wang Chuqin entered the Paris Olympics as the odd-on favorite to win the men’s singles table tennis tournament. The world No. 1 had already brought home gold in mixed doubles, and many expected further dominance in his other two events.
Then, controversy erupted.
After securing that first-place spot alongside teammate Sun Yingsha in mixed doubles, a celebration ensued. Photographers quickly rushed over to capture the moment, in the process stepping on and destroying Chuqin’s paddle.
The joy quickly turned to anger as he searched for answers as to why that equipment had been damaged. The setback, many believe, had an impact on his later singles performance.
“At that moment, I lost control of my emotions,” he said immediately after the fact. “I couldn’t understand why the photographers would do that… I believe I’ll still be able to play well with my backup bat. Maybe this is fate.”
It wasn’t.
While he won his opening match, Wang Chuqin would lose in the round of 32, ending his gold medal pursuit.
In what was the biggest upset of the Paris Games thus far, Chuqin fell to Sweden’s Truls Moregard, 4-2.
Was the paddle to blame?!
Wang Chuqin refused to blame his broken paddle for the upset loss.
Instead, he congratulated his counterpart.
“I didn’t play well. I had chances in the first and fifth rounds, but didn’t take them,” he replied when pressed on the unexpected defeat. “I think Moregard deserved to win today… [the paddle] wasn’t the reason for losing. I made many mistakes today, which really led to the failure.”
Chuqin had every opportunity to blame the surprise loss on his broken equipment but wouldn’t do so.
That differed greatly from what we saw from US tennis star Coco Gauff earlier this week.
Her Olympic journey came to an end at the hands of Donna Vekic on Tuesday in a match where Gauff believed she was wronged by the chair umpire.
“I feel like I’m getting cheated constantly in this game,” she said after an overturned call led to an opponent’s point. “This is the third time this has happened to me!”
Gauff, who would blow a 40-0 advantage in the next set (without the umpire’s help), blamed an official. Chuqin blamed himself!
With the loss, China is effectively eliminated from winning both gold and silver in the men’s singles table tennis event for the first time since 2004.
While his singles run has come to an abrupt end, Chuqin still has one more opportunity to represent his country in Paris. On August 6th, he’ll take part in the team event with hopes of erasing this sour memory from his mind.
Until then, he’ll be forced to think of what might’ve been had that photographer not stepped on his paddle.