MACAO, March 31 (Xinhua) -- World No. 1 Wang Chuqin of China opened his ITTF World Cup campaign in style with a dominant 3-0 victory over Romania's Eduard Ionescu, while his compatriot Liang Jingkun slipped to a surprise 3-2 defeat against Argentina's Horacio Cifuentes in Tuesday's group-stage action.
Wang led 5-1 in his opening game before Ionescu fought back to 5-5 and then 5-6. Wang edged ahead again to 7-6, but was pegged back to 7-7. After going up 8-7, he was caught once more at 8-8, before finally pulling away to take the game 11-8.
In the second game, Wang raced to a 7-0 lead before Ionescu closed the gap to 7-5. Wang then regrouped and closed out the game 11-7. In the third game, Wang dominated, taking it 11-1.
"It was my first time playing against him," Wang said. "And the key was really in the first game - at 8-8, it was about who could take control and win the game. He is a very strong player, and before the match I wasn't completely sure of myself. I'm satisfied with how I played today."
World No. 13 Liang suffered a shock upset, losing 3-2 to world No. 79 Cifuentes (11-5, 7-11, 8-11, 11-4, 8-11). Liang will meet Germany's veteran Dimitrij Ovtcharov on Wednesday, with the latter beating Cifuentes 3-1 on Monday. On Tuesday, fellow Chinese Wen Ruibo beat France's Stephane Ouaiche 3-1.
In the women's draw, China's Qin Yuxuan received a walkover in her first group match as her opponent Annett Kaufmann of Germany withdrew due to injury. Qin will meet Japan's world No. 9 Hina Hayata on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong, China edged Poland's Natalia Bajor 3-2. "We've played each other many times. We're about the same age, so we've basically grown up competing against each other," Doo said.
"The score is always like this when we play - very tight - so I had prepared for that, including longer rallies on every point. I'm really happy to win today, because this is the World Cup, the very top level, so every win really counts," added Doo, who will face China's Wang Yidi on Wednesday.
The 2026 ITTF Men's and Women's World Cup runs from March 30 to April 5 in Macao, with 48 players in each singles draw. Players are split into 16 groups for a best-of-five round-robin phase, with only the group winners advancing to a best-of-seven knockout stage. ■
