Chinese big hitters suffer shocking early exits at WTT Finals Fukuoka

China's unparalleled dominance in table tennis has long been accepted as a given, but there are growing signs that their stranglehold on trophies may be loosening.

As 16 of the season's best men's and women's singles players and the top eight doubles pairings compete for the WTT Finals in Kitakyushu, Japan this week, Chinese fans were in for a shocking surprise.

On the opening day of the tournament, the Chinese men's team suffered a disheartening four consecutive losses in both the men's singles and doubles events. In doubles, both pairings exited in the first round, prematurely ending their title hopes.

Lin Gaoyuan was soundly defeated 3-0 by Slovenia's Darko Jorgic. Shortly after, the men's doubles top seeds, Xiang Peng and Yuan Licen, faced an unexpected exit, being swept 3-0 by the Singaporean duo of Pang Yew En Koen and Izaac Quek.

Liang Jingkun followed with a 3-1 loss to Japan's world No.7 Tomokazu Harimoto, also exiting in the first round. Finally, the pairing of Lin Gaoyuan and Lin Shidong encountered the hosts' Hiroto Shinozuka and Shunsuke Togami, suffering a similar fate with a 3-0 defeat.

With these results, the Chinese men's team is left with just two representatives, Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin, who will compete in the singles events on Thursday.

Meanwhile, in women's doubles, China's top seeds Sun Yingsha and Wang Yidi were stunned, losing 1-3 to Japan's defensive duo of Hitomi Sato and Honoka Hashimoto. 

The only solace for China came in the women's singles, where Qian Tianyi and Wang Yidi both advanced. Qian triumphed over Puerto Rico's Adriana Diaz in straight sets, while Wang secured a 3-1 victory against Cheng I-Ching of Chinese Taipei.