WTT Finals Hong Kong: Sun Yingsha hit by injury, loses mixed doubles final with Wang Chuqin
Olympic and world champion pair suffer historic loss to South Korean rivals after Sun earlier pulls out of a match for first time
Sun Yingsha, the top women’s player in table tennis, had to withdraw in the middle of a match for the first time in her career as she bowed out of the singles semi-finals of the WTT Finals Hong Kong on Saturday with an apparent left ankle injury.
A double heartbreak was to follow, after Sun joined Olympic and world champion partner Wang Chuqin in the mixed doubles final, where they were swept aside – 11-9, 11-8, 11-6 – by South Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin at the Hong Kong Coliseum.
It was a career-first win for the world No 2 Korean pair over the Chinese duo.
“I would like to thank each and every athlete that played until the end [despite carrying an injury],” Lim said, referring to Sun’s injury. “Every player including Wang and Sun played very well today, so thank you for their performance today.”
Shin added: “It’s very important to have good conditions, so I hope every athlete plays without injuries and plays happily.”
In the first match of the evening session, Sun, who has been top of the world rankings for 178 consecutive weeks coming into the contest, decided to leave the court after five games had been completed, with Kuai Man advancing to Sunday’s final with a 4-2 win.