On May 14, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) announced a new ranking list, and the duo of Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha showed dazzling results: they topped the mixed doubles standings with 8,500 points, and the eight valid points were all championship points, 4,615 points higher than the second-placed Japanese pair Tomokazu Zhangmoto/Hina Hayata.
In the previous world ranking list announced last Tuesday, the "Shatou" combination scored 6,780 points. Last week, they won the mixed doubles title at the WTT Grand Slam in Saudi Arabia, earning 2,000 championship points, replacing the previous minimum of 280 valid points, a net increase of 1,720 points, and thus the two points rose to 8,500 points from 6,780 last week. What is amazing is that the two pairs of pairs who are ranked second and third in the ranking list add up their points, and they are actually 1060 points less than Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha. The dominance of "Sha Tou" in the mixed doubles field is truly incredible!
Entering the Paris Olympic cycle, Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha grew into the best mixed doubles pair in the international table tennis world, during which they won two consecutive World Table Tennis Championships, won the WTT championship one after another, and the Hangzhou Asian Games champion was also written under their names, which can be called invincible opponents in the world. In the just-concluded WTT Grand Slam Saudi Arabia station, they successfully won the championship with a record of winning all four matches without losing a game, and the advantage was so great that the opponents looked up.
In the history of national table tennis, three pairs of ace mixed doubles were born, Wang Liqin/Guo Yue, Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha both won the gold medal of the World Table Tennis Championships, and Wang Tao/Liu Wei even had an unprecedented performance of three consecutive championships in the World Table Tennis Championships. However, the first mixed doubles pair of the Olympic Games born in the summer of 2021 did not belong to the national table tennis team, when Japan's Mizutani Hayabusa/Mimato Ito upset China's Xu Xin/Liu Shiwen in the mixed doubles final at the Tokyo Olympics.
Two months later, Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha will be heading to the Paris Olympics with the goal of winning the first Olympic mixed doubles title in the history of national table tennis.
Proudly, Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha have achieved a miracle in the Paris Olympic cycle, they are the only players to have won four consecutive Grand Slam titles, which is a height that no other master has conquered on the four fronts of men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles.
Now, the Olympic champion is the only blank spot for the "Shatou" pair, can they become the first mixed doubles pair in the history of international table tennis to achieve Grand Slam feats?