Wang Chuqin exits in second round

In the final two men's singles first-round matches involving Chinese players at WTT Champions Frankfurt last night, Xiang Peng and Liang Jingkun both suffered defeats, making early exits from the tournament. Meanwhile, in an all-Chinese round-of-16 clash, Wang Chuqin, competing for the first time since the Asian Games, lost 3-0 to teammate Wen Ruibo and failed to reach the quarter-finals.

Neither of China's two men's singles matches against international opponents last night produced the desired results. Xiang Peng suffered a 3-1 defeat to Patrick Franziska, the runner-up at last week's WTT Champions Montpellier. Liang Jingkun then battled Brazil's Hugo Calderano over five games but narrowly lost the decider 11-9. Following the first round, only three Chinese players — Zhou Qihao, Wen Ruibo and Wang Chuqin — had advanced to the men's singles last 16.

In the all-Chinese round-of-16 encounter early this morning, Wang Chuqin and Wen Ruibo, who had defeated Anders Lind and An Jaehyun respectively in the opening round, faced each other for the first time in international competition. The younger Wen played more aggressively throughout the match, defeating Wang 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 to advance to the quarter-finals.

As a result, China now has just two players remaining in the men's singles competition: Wen Ruibo, who has already reached the quarter-finals, and Zhou Qihao, who will play his round-of-16 match later today.