For the love of the game

The Finals win is Wang's third singles title on the WTT Series circuit this season, adding to her victorious Singapore Smash campaign in March and WTT Champions Frankfurt 2024 crown on Nov 10.

Although Wang got the spoils at the year-ending tournament for the top eight players, 2024 has still been a roller coaster for her.

At 22, Wang got the chance to play in the team event at the Tokyo Olympics because of Liu Shiwen's withdrawal due to an elbow injury.

She, along with teammates Chen Meng and Sun Yingsha, won the women's team gold.

A little over a month later, at the 14th National Games held in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, she swept Sun Yingsha 4-0 in the women's singles final. Following that, in November, at the 2021 Houston World Table Tennis Championships, she lifted both the singles and doubles titles.

In the Paris cycle, Wang aimed for one of the two Olympic women's singles spots for the Chinese team.

However, in May, a loss shattered her hopes.

The World Table Tennis Saudi Smash 2024 was the final battle to determine who would qualify for the Paris Olympics women's singles. In the second round, Wang fell 1-3 to India's Manika Batra.

According to the national women's team selection criteria, each loss against a player from another association is a deduction of 3,000 points.

The loss cost her a place in the singles competition in Paris. It was a heavy blow for Wang.