BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) — Here are the latest Chinese sports headlines from the past week:
1. Sun, Wang crowned at WTT Champions Macao
China’s Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin clinched the singles titles at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions Macao 2025 on September 14.
World No. 1 Sun successfully defended her crown with a 4-3 win over world No. 2 and teammate Wang Manyu. In a gripping contest, Sun took the opener, trailed 3-2, and rallied to prevail in the deciding seventh game.
Wang Chuqin eased past Brazil’s Hugo Calderano 4-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-9, 11-4). The pair had already met twice this year in major events, at the ITTF Men’s and Women’s World Cup Macao 2025 and the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals Doha 2025, with one victory each before Sunday’s final.
At the post-match press conference, Wang addressed the challenges facing China’s men’s team, noting the depth of global competition. “As the sport evolves, the competition is becoming increasingly fierce, but I believe the Chinese team is still the strongest,” he said.
2. China’s 16-year-old Peng smashes world record to win gold at ISSF World Cup in Ningbo
Sixteen-year-old Peng Xinlu stunned the shooting world on September 14 by breaking both the world and junior records to win the women’s 10m air rifle title at the ISSF World Cup in Ningbo.
Peng fired 255.3 points in the final, surpassing the previous world mark of 254.8, set by compatriot Wang Zifei at the Lima World Cup in April.
The victory marked Peng’s second medal in her World Cup debut in Ningbo. Earlier in the week, she paired with Olympic champion Sheng Lihao to win silver in the mixed team event after setting a new qualification world record of 636.9.
“I’ll try to improve in the future, hoping to get even better results,” Peng said after her victory, also thanking the home crowd for their support.
3. China clinches first women’s hockey Asia Cup title in 16 years
China overpowered India 4-1 to win its third women’s hockey Asia Cup title, and its first since 2009, in Hangzhou on September 14.
The victory sees China join South Korea and Japan as the tournament’s most decorated teams with three titles each in the event’s 40-year history. The hosts also secured qualification for the 2026 Women’s FIH Hockey World Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands.
India struck first through Navneet Kaur in the opening minute, but China captain Ou Zixia leveled the score in the 21st minute. Li Hong put China ahead in the 41st minute before Zou Meirong and Zhong Jiaqi netted in quick succession to seal the win.
“Happy for the win and the title. Hopefully we can achieve a good result at next year’s World Cup,” said Li, who was named player of the match.
Silver medalists at last year’s Paris Olympics, China maintained a perfect record across the group stage and the Super 4s to lift the trophy.
4. China’s Zhang/Huang finish 1st in pairs short program at ISU Figure Skating Olympic Qualifier
Chinese figure skating pair skaters Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihang took first place in the pairs short program at the ISU Figure Skating Olympic Qualifier in Beijing on September 19.
Zhang and Huang scored 66.68 points to top the rankings, 2.40 points ahead of the second-placed French pair Camille Kovalev and Pavel Kovalev, while Armenia’s Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin currently ranked third in the pairs short program with 63.85 points.
“It was a great start for us. We handled the pressure today and will continue to adjust ourselves to an even better mindset,” said the 18-year-old Zhang after the competition.
Huang, 23, noted, “We are here to compete for a Winter Olympic berth. It is an important but also challenging event for us. We feel honored to show ourselves and will try to further improve our performance in the pairs free skating on Saturday.”
5. China fends off Joventut in women’s basketball friendly
China made it two wins from two in its women’s basketball friendly double-header against Spanish club Joventut Badalona, with a 91-86 victory in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province on September 18.
With the scores tied at 50-50 at halftime, China outscored Joventut 24-12 in the third quarter and withstood their opponents’ fourth-quarter comeback to secure its second win in as many matches.
Four Chinese players scored in double figures, led by center Han Xu’s 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting. Yang Shuyu and Tian Yuanyuan scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.
China had previously defeated Joventut 90-81 on Wednesday. “We did better on rebounds today, but they still grabbed 12 offensive rebounds. We need to address that if we want to be among the best in the world,” China coach Gong Luming said after the game.
“As a young team, we showed our fighting spirit, but our training and contact intensity were not enough in the game situation,” he added.
