It was the heat of the moment. Now that you have that 1982 earworm from the band Asia stuck in your head, consider the sad case of Wang Chuqin. At the volatile age of 19, the talented teen has already risen through the ranks of the world's most competitive table tennis-playing country (for those of you just joining us, that would be China), reaching the top six in his homeland and #15 in the world. What's more, he had already secured a spot in the prestigious, invite-only ITTF World Tour Grand Finals this December by dint of his consistently strong performances on the ITTF World Tour. Therefore, it is especially unfortunate that a small frustration in Austria has led to a major problem for Wang. Last week at the Austrian Open in Linz, Wang was in the midst of losing a match to his teammate and eventual finalist Zhao Zihao when the aforementioned heat got the better of him. In his frustration after losing the first three games, Wang hurled his racket at the table and in the general direction of his opponent and countryman. The Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) wasn't having any of it, immediately sending Zhao home and his coach home before announcing disciplinary action. Now it is official: Wang is to serve a three month suspension, barring him from participating in any competition until February 13. This includes the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals, to be held December 12-15 in Zhengzhou, China. Now Wanq Chuqin is on time out, forced to go to his room while his friends Xu Xin, Fan Zhendong, Lin Gaoyuan, Ma Long, Liang Jingkun and even his frustrating "frenemy" Zhao Zihao go out and play. This bad news for Wang is a windfall to Wong Chun Ting, the Hong Kong player who is the first reserve for just such a contingency. Japan's Koki Niwa and Republic of Korea's Jang Woojin next up on the reserve list. Of course, they would never wish any injury on anyone, let alone a fellow world-class athlete, but they probably wouldn't mind if a few more top players started losing their tops. Anything can happen in the heat of the moment.

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