China's Wang Chuqin retains singles title at table tennis Asian Cup

Wang Chuqin celebrates after winning the men's singles title at the 2026 ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, Feb. 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

HAIKOU, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Top-ranked Wang Chuqin of China beat Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto 4-2 in the men's singles final to defend his title at the Asian Cup table tennis tournament here on Sunday.

Harimoto started strongly with aggressive returns to lead 2-1 after three games (11-9, 8-11, 11-7), before Wang bounced back to rally past with three consecutive wins 11-5, 11-8, 11-6 to lift the trophy at home.

"It was a thrilling match. Harimoto performed better than me at the start, but I was not much affected by the score itself when trailing. I tried to find my rhythm gradually and showed my strength," Wang said.

"The victory belongs to our whole team with joint efforts. Throughout the matches, I demonstrated the outcomes of my recent training. I have made certain progress and will continue to make improvement in skills and mindset," he added.

Earlier in the day, Japan's Shunsuke Togami cruised past Chinese Taipei's Chang Yu-An 4-1 to finish third in the men's singles.