Fairytale Championship Return of Zhu Yuling & Roaring Wang Chuquin is Gold at US Smash 2025
Newly crowned US Smash 2025 champions Zhu Yuling and Wang Chuquin celebrate table tennis victory under the lights of Las Vegas. Photography by WTT.
Journey into the Championship Final Now Marked as the Start of a New US Smash 2025 Las Vegas Legacy
July 13, 2025 — Under the gleaming lights of the newly reinvented Maverick ☆ Arena at the US Smash 2025 in Las Vegas, and moved powerfully to the rhythm of applause from a full crowd, two champions claimed table tennis victory: Zhu Yuling in the women’s final, and Wang Chuquin in the men’s final. It was a hard-fought battle, celebrated with great merit and grace.
Zhu Yuling, representing Macau, is the newly crowned US Smash 2025 queen, who defeated Chen Yi of China in a thrilling 4-2 final (7–11, 8–11, 11–7, 11–5, 11–9, 11–8). The former World No. 1, Yuling, was away from the international scene for almost half a decade. Today it took her less than a year to climb back into top ten, to the World No. 6 ranking. The celebrated athlete, who is also a professor at the Tianjin University, reflected on her championship victory, which many have dubbed as a fairytale return to the sport.
“When the crowd applauds me on the court, I’m like a shining star. But once the match is over, stepping down from the podium and starting from zero again, I’m just an ordinary person,” said Yuling.
The interviewer mentioned that to climb from zero to a top-10 world ranking in less than a year, isn’t something Yuling could have achieved just by dreaming. Nevertheless, Yuling’s perfect and humble reply reflected on her sense of courage to look forward, and one which, as human beings, we must embrace if we want to win, just like in this championship evening.
“My past experience is my precious treasure. It also affects how I view the present. I believe that everything should be seen from two sides. My coach often says I have a strong sense of vigilance. Of course, it’s great to be a champion, but I dare not predict what the future holds.”
Part of that future are her students back home cheering her on; students whom she treasures as much as, or perhaps even more than, table tennis itself. “Even though we’re physically far apart, it feels like we’re connected in the same magnetic field. It perfectly shows what mutual learning between educator and student means. I’ve always said that teaching is about impacting lives with your own life. They influence me, and I influence them. We motivate each other,” said Yuling.
In a men’s final battle between Japan and China, the brave Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan fell to the championship victory of Wang Chuquin of China 4–0 win (11–3, 11–6, 12–10, 11–8). One could feel the passion run through both players’ veins. The only caution: do not hold your breath. Harimoto tried to break Chuquin several times throughout the match, but to no avail. The rest is table tennis history. It was a world class match, finalized with great respect toward each other.
Reflecting on his victory, Chuquin was very matter of fact, his interview reflection strategically matching his precise approach to his golden title victory in Las Vegas.
“Through this match I had found that there are some areas of improvement, and I would like to go back, reflect, and work on them. Even so, I felt that I gave my best…and still pull through to make the win,” said Chuquin, also grateful for his many fans in attendance that evening.
While most of us remember table tennis as a favorite childhood sport, the next time the pros return to Vegas, we dare you: sit too close to this great Maverick ☆ Arena table tennis, watch the action, and feel how you become immersed in a world of superstars. It is fast, smart, unforgiving. It’s an international arena and culture that continues to elevate sport. It places Las Vegas now among the new table tennis favorite stops, a rival between cities to be contended with.
