On January 10th, Beijing time, the WTT Star Challenge Doha Station is currently underway. The doubles matches are in progress, with the men's doubles featuring Guo Peng and Xu Yingbin from the national team. For this open tournament, the national team coaching staff has arranged for 11 young players to participate. In the men's doubles, the main national team players are collectively absent, with only Guo Peng and Xu Yingbin selected to compete for the championship.
In the quarter-finals of the men's doubles, the Indian pair of Taka and Manash Shah won three consecutive games with scores of 11:5, 11:3, and 11:6, defeating the Hong Kong China pair of Guan Wenhao and Lin Zhaoheng 3-0 and advancing to the semi-finals. The South Korean pair of Zhao Dacheng and Wu Juncheng, after losing the first game, won three consecutive games with scores of 11:9, 13:11, and 11:7, reversing Alekro and Larsen Fors 3-1 and successfully advancing to the semi-finals.
Next, the quarter-finals of the men's doubles continued, with Japanese players Tomokazu Harimoto and Matsushima Kakeru facing the Indian pair of Achantha and Sutawarjula. Both are main players for Japan and key training targets for the Japanese Table Tennis Association during this Olympic cycle. Harimoto and Matsushima lived up to expectations, winning 3-0 with scores of 11:4, 11:8, and 11:6, sealing a major victory and advancing.
In the last quarter-final match of the men's doubles, the national team's only remaining pair, Guo Peng and Xu Yingbin, faced the European pair of Darko and Kozul. Among them, Darko is a European champion who has defeated the national team's main players multiple times, demonstrating strong abilities. At the start of the match, Darko and Kozul took the lead, winning two consecutive games with scores of 11:7 and 11:3. The national team's men's doubles were pushed into a desperate situation, but Guo Peng and Xu Yingbin did not give up, beginning their great comeback journey. They won three consecutive games with scores of 11:9, 11:5, and 11:8, completing a great reversal with a total score of 3:2.
After the match, when interviewed by the media, Guo Peng, the young player from the national team, stated that they lost quickly at the beginning but then played freely to achieve the reversal. Teammate Xu Yingbin expressed that they focused on playing point by point in the third game. With this, the lineup for the table tennis semi-finals has been announced, with the national team only occupying one spot. Guo Peng and Yuan Licen will challenge for the championship. In the semi-finals, Tomokazu Harimoto/Matsushima Kakeru will face South Korea's Zhao Dacheng/Wu Juncheng, while Taka/Manash Shah will face the national team's men's doubles pair of Guo Peng/Xu Yingbin.