In table tennis, China is an all-star team. One unique distinction of this elite squad of athletes is that, unlike any other team in the world, their best competition comes from their own teammates. Such is the case for women's world #5 Wang Manyu and men's world #12 Wang Chuqin. While most countries would be lucky to have even one player with such a rarefied ranking, in China they are the benchwarmers. Although unrelated, the two Wangs have forged a close relation as mixed doubles partners, the left-handed Wang Chuqin forming the ideal complement to Wang Manyu's righty attack. In China's Olympic Simulation Games for its team members this August, they took silver in the event, losing in the finals to Xu Xin and Sun Yingsha, another ideal lefty-righty combo. As luck, or perhaps karma would have it, the two twosomes would clash again, meeting yesterday in the 2020 China Table Tennis Championships mixed doubled finals. This time, however, the result was reversed, with the Wangs eking out the early lead, then crushing an attempted comeback in five games, ((13-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-1, 11-5). According to Wang Manyu, the championship was no accident, but rather the result of strategy and effort. "This game panned out just as I said it would before the game," she said. "We are very strong and open. This game is also a test of my training results during the epidemic. I live very hard and desperately every day." For Wang Chuqin's part, he gave his partner much of the credit for willing them to a redemptive victory. "Manyu has always been on the court to mobilize and encourage me," he said. "She played this game well. She gave me a very strong belief to get the win." Tomorrow, Wang Chuqin will partner with world #1 Fan Zhendong in men's doubles. Saturday morning in the men's singles semifinals, he takes on the arguable G.O.A.T Ma Long. Wang Manyu is in the women's singles semis against world #1 Chen Meng tomorrow. The two will then bury the hatchet and partner in the women's singles semis Saturday. Thus, with their respective world #1-ranked partners, both Wangs have excellent chances to go home with two gold medals in doubles. They also have good chances to medal in singles. Next year in the Olympics, however, competition is extremely fierce for every spot available. The IOC has limited the number of players in each singles event to two from each country, largely in an effort to ensure that at least one individual table tennis medal is awarded to someone outside of China. With selection for singles unlikely for the Wangs, their next hope is the teams competition, an Olympic event since 2008. However, Wang Chuqin is currently outranked by five of his countrymen, and Wang Manyu by three of her female teammates. Thus, they are once again on the outside looking in. Luckily, Wang Manyu and Wang Chuqin's doubles chemistry is greater than the sum of their world rankings, and gives the Chinese National Olympic Committee much to consider when fielding their teams next year. It is a dilemma indeed to be forced to choose from such an overabundance of talent. We should all have such enviable problems.

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