Wang Chuqin rallies past Gauzy to reach last eight at Table Tennis World Championships

Second-seeded Wang Chuqin of China battled back from two games down to defeat Simon Gauzy of France 9-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-9, 11-4, 11-8 at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Championships Finals in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday, advancing to the quarterfinals.

Gauzy had eliminated Wang's compatriot Lin Gaoyuan in the round of 32, and seemed to be on his way to shocking another seeded Chinese player after claiming the first two games.

"I was too nervous at the beginning," Wang said after the match. "I thought too much and was too conservative. I let my opponent control the rhythm."

Wang switched to a short-sleeved jersey before the third game and began to display a completely different form, clinching four straight games to win the match.

"Putting on the short-sleeved jersey pulled me out of the match for a moment," Wang recalled. "I felt calmer and more collected. I knew I was two games down, but I stopped thinking about the result. I just wanted to do my best, or I would be eliminated.

World No. 43 Gauzy assessed his performance as a 9 out of 10.

"Wang was not at his best at the beginning, while I was," the 30-year-old noted. "It's hard to handle his power and speed."

Meanwhile, China's top seed Lin Shidong also reached the quarterfinals, following a comfortable 4-0 sweep against Sweden's Anton Kallberg. The 20-year-old will face Chinese compatriot Liang Jingkun in the last eight.

On the women's side, Sun Yingsha advanced to the quarterfinals as well, though it was anything but smooth sailing for China's top seed. She almost squandered a 3-1 advantage, but put away ninth-seeded Shin Yu-bin of South Korea 4-2 in the end, and will face seventh seed Satsuki Odo of Japan in the last eight.

The day's other action saw Wang and Sun overcome a slow start to beat Japan's Sora Matsushima and Miwa Harimoto 3-1 in the mixed doubles quarterfinals. The second-seeded Chinese duo shined in the clutch moments of the contest, beating the fifth seeds 6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9.

China did come away with some bad news from the men's doubles quarterfinals. Third seeds Lin Gaoyuan and Lin Shidong were eliminated by the sixth-seeded pair from Chinese Taipei, Kao Cheng-Jui and Lin Yun-Ju, who claimed an 11-5, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8 victory.