- World number one Wang Chuqin suffered a broken paddle by a photographer
- The incident occurred while she was celebrating her gold in doubles
- Then the unthinkable happened for the table tennis superstar.
A Chinese table tennis superstar was left visibly upset after seeing his prized possession smashed by an overexcited photographer in Paris.
Wang Chuqin was celebrating her first Olympic gold medal alongside teammate Sun Yingsha after winning the mixed doubles competition on Tuesday.
But her joy soon turned to disbelief when she realized that her paddle, so important for the team and individual events, had been smashed by the biter.
Emotionally overwhelmed by the incident, Wang searched for an explanation as his coach hugged and comforted him in an effort to keep him calm.
“They didn’t do it on purpose. Since it already happened, there’s not much I can do about it. I’ll try to play well with my spare paddle,” Wang said, distressed. “Maybe it’s fate.”
Wang then returned for the men’s singles competition on Wednesday, but the world number one suffered an unthinkable defeat to Sweden’s Truls Moregard, eliminating him from the competition at the round of 32 stage.
It was only the second time Moregard had defeated a Chinese opponent in international competition.
However, Wang insisted that her defeat was not due to the paddle incident.
Wang Chuqin was devastated after his table tennis paddle broke
The world number 1’s racket was broken by photographers while he was celebrating his gold medal
The devastated Chinese star lost his singles match to Sweden’s Truls Moregard.
“I think the main reason was my poor performance, which gave more opportunities to Moregard. I made a lot of mistakes, which gradually put me in a disadvantageous position,” Wang said.
But her journey in Paris is not over, as she will later compete in the team event in China.
Moregard was delighted with his shock victory and was seen shouting to the crowd and dancing on the track.
“I’ve hardly ever won a set against Wang, so it’s crazy to win here. I think my tactical play was very smart and I didn’t feel like he was having his best day at the beginning,” Moregard said.