Beijing: World No. 1 Wang Chuqin emerged victorious in a five-game battle against Poland’s Milosz Redzimski to advance to the men’s singles last 16 at the World Table Tennis (WTT) China Smash on Wednesday. Facing the 45th-ranked Redzimski in their first head-to-head, Wang took the first two games 11-7, 11-4. Seemingly headed for a comfortable win, the top seed fell into an 8-2 hole in the third game, rallied with seven straight points for a 9-8 edge, but lost 12-10. With two Table Tennis Review calls going against him, Wang dropped the fourth game 11-8 and trailed 4-2 in the decider.

According to Namibia Press Agency, Wang then reeled off three points in a row to move ahead 8-5. Redzimski pulled back to 9-8, but amid loud home support Wang held firm to close out an 11-8 victory, avoiding another round-of-32 exit at the event after last year. Later on Wednesday, Wang will partner Lin Shidong in the men’s doubles round of 16, and Sun Yingsha in the mixed doubles quarterfinals.

Wang was joined in the last 16 by Liang Jingkun, who rallied past Lin Gaoyuan 3-1 in an all-Chinese clash. Liang led their head-to-head 9-3 before Wednesday’s match. Lin took the early initiative, breaking a 7-7 tie with three points in a row to take the opening game 11-8. Liang then turned the match around, winning 13-11, 11-9, 11-5 to seal victory. Instead of focusing on his own performance, Liang asked the crowd to applaud Lin.

In women’s singles, second seed Wang Manyu beat India’s Manika Batra 11-6, 11-5, 11-7, while Kuai Man defeated Welsh qualifier Anna Hursey in straight games to reach the last 16. Also on Wednesday, China’s Yuan Licen and Wang Yidi beat Swedish duo Kristian Karlsson and Christina Kallberg 3-0 (11-8, 11-4, 11-5) in the mixed doubles quarterfinals. In men’s doubles, Zhou Qihao and Chen Junsong upset third-seeded An Jae-hyun and Lim Jong-hoon of South Korea in straight games.