China’s up and coming star Wang Chuqin will be missing out on his debut appearance at the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals, following confirmation received today by the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA).
The national association cancelled Wang’s participation at the prestigious event, set to be staged between 12th – 15th December 2019 in Zhengzhou, China, as it falls within his three-month suspension handed out after he threw his racket during defeat to Zhao Zihao at last week’s ITTF World Tour Platinum Austrian Open.
The 19-year-old, who was crowned champion at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, is therefore ineligible for any competitions taking place until Thursday 13th February, when the suspension ends.
Gold medallist at the 2019 ITTF World Tour Swedish Open, following silver medals at this year’s Hungarian and Australian Opens, Wang had qualified for what would have been his first ever appearance at the World Tour Grand Finals. He was set to compete as seventh seed, having accrued 819 points over the course of the 10 ITTF World Tour events he competed in during 2019.
His withdrawal from the end-of-year event opens the door for Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong China to step in and complete the list of 16 men’s singles players due to line up next month in Zhengzhou.
Wong had narrowly missed out on qualification after finishing the 2019 ITTF World Tour season in 17th place, assuring him of the first reserve position.
