I Can’t Look Up To Her Anymore: Top Table Tennis Star Shows Disappointment in Coco Gauff After Controversial Olympic Loss And…
Wang Chuqin entered the Paris Olympics as the odd-on favorite to win the men’s singles table tennis tournament. The world No. 1 had already brought home gold in mixed doubles, and many expected further dominance in his other two events.
Then, controversy erupted.
After securing that first-place spot alongside teammate Sun Yingsha in mixed doubles, a celebration ensued. Photographers quickly rushed over to capture the moment, in the process stepping on and destroying Chuqin’s paddle.
The joy quickly turned to anger as he searched for answers as to why that equipment had been damaged. The setback, many believe, had an impact on his later singles performance.
“At that moment, I lost control of my emotions,” he said immediately after the fact. “I couldn’t understand why the photographers would do that… I believe I’ll still be able to play well with my backup bat. Maybe this is fate.”
It wasn’t.
While he won his opening match, Wang Chuqin would lose in the round of 32, ending his gold medal pursuit.
In what was the biggest upset of the Paris Games thus far, Chuqin fell to Sweden’s Truls Moregard, 4-2.
Was the paddle to blame?!
Wang Chuqin refused to blame his broken paddle for the upset loss.
Instead, he congratulated his counterpart.
“I didn’t play well. I had chances in the first and fifth rounds, but didn’t take them,” he replied when pressed on the unexpected defeat. “I think Moregard deserved to win today… [the paddle] wasn’t the reason for losing. I made many mistakes today, which really led to the failure.”
Chuqin had every opportunity to blame the surprise loss on his broken equipment but wouldn’t do so.
That differed greatly from what we saw from US tennis star Coco Gauff earlier this week.
Her Olympic journey came to an end at the hands of Donna Vekic on Tuesday in a match where Gauff believed she was wronged by the chair umpire.
“I feel like I’m getting cheated constantly in this game,” she said after an overturned call led to an opponent’s point. “This is the third time this has happened to me!”
Gauff, who would blow a 40-0 advantage in the next set (without the umpire’s help), blamed an official. Chuqin blamed himself!
With the loss, China is effectively eliminated from winning both gold and silver in the men’s singles table tennis event for the first time since 2004.
While his singles run has come to an abrupt end, Chuqin still has one more opportunity to represent his country in Paris. On August 6th, he’ll take part in the team event with hopes of erasing this sour memory from his mind.
Until then, he’ll be forced to think of what might’ve been had that photographer not stepped on his paddle.
“Should have incidental replays”: Coco Gauff’s coach Brad Gilbert reiterates call for change after her heated argument with umpire at Paris Olympics
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Coco Gauff argued over a disputed call with the chair umpire during her third-round singles contest at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Her coach, Brad Gilbert, weighed in on the interaction and advocated for necessary changes to the umpiring system in tennis.
Gauff faced Donna Vekic in the third round at the 2024 Paris Olympics on July 30. The Croat No. 1 gained the one-set advantage, and the two women were at par in the early stage of the second set. The American was trying to hold her serve at 3-2 (30-40) when a shot from Vekic was deemed long at the baseline by the line umpire, and Gauff hit the return shot at the net, assuming that she had won the point.
TrendingHowever, the chair umpire, Jaume Campistol, overruled the line umpire’s decision. He called Vekic’s shot in and awarded her the point. Gauff was left distraught by Campistol’s decision and approached the net to plead her case. The two got into a heated argument, and the 21-year-old was left in tears after deeming Campistol’s decision unfair.
You can watch the entire clip of Coco Gauff and Jaume Campitsol’s exchange below:
After the altercation, Gauff lost her focus and went on to lose the match 7-6 (7), 6-2. The incident created a stir in the tennis world, and fans were divided over the controversial call. Coco Gauff’s coach, Brad Gilbert, also gave his take on the event.
In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Gilbert reaffirmed his support for Hawkeye replays and called for the implementation of “incidental replays” to resolve disputes like the ones that arose during Gauff’s match against Vekic. Gilbert added that the chair umpire and match referees should have a TV monitor to look at replays in real time and arrive at the correct decision.
“I have said since we introduced Hawkeye replay calls like 20 years ago, That we should absolutely have incidental replays, umpires should have a tv monitor to look at replay, same with tournament referee if they come to court, must see replay quickly,” Brad Gilbert wrote.
This is not the first time Brad Gilbert has voiced support for a TV monitor for incidental replays. He did the same after Coco Gauff’s confrontation with the chair umpire at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships and Danill Medvedev’s “double bounce” controversy at the Wimbledon Championships.
Coco Gauff can still win a medal at Paris Olympics 2024
Coco Gauff will surely be disheartened after her ouster from the singles format at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Seeded second, the American was a firm favorite to bag a medal in the singles contest before losing in the third round. But Gauff still has a chance to go home with an Olympic medal, or medals, as she is also competing in women’s doubles and mixed doubles categories.
Gauff has partnered with Jessica Pegula to play women’s doubles in Paris, and the duo is the top seed. They won their opening-round match against Daria Saville and Ellen Perez of Australia and will now face Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in the second round.
In the mixed doubles format, Gauff is paired with Taylor Fritz. The pair needed a super tiebreaker to get the better of Maximo Gonzalez and Nadia Podorosko of Argentina in the first round. Their next opponents are Gabriela Dabrowski and Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada.
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