On January 10, 2025, the men's singles quarterfinals of the Doha Ping Pong Star Tournament were announced. The national team suffered two consecutive defeats in foreign matches, leaving them completely eliminated from the event. Xiang Peng and Huang Youzheng were successively eliminated, while Japanese players Tomokazu Ishihara, Koki Niwa, and Daiki Yoshimoto continued to advance. South Korea was represented by only one player, Kanghyeon Park. However, Xiang Peng advanced to the men's doubles final, and Huang Youzheng reached the mixed doubles final, still maintaining the possibility of winning the championship.
This time, the national team did not have many players registered for the men's singles. With Zhou Qihao withdrawing due to injury and Xu Yingbin falling behind in the qualifying rounds, there were only three remaining players: Xiang Peng, Huang Youzheng, and Chen Yuanyu. In the previous round, Chen Yuanyu lost to German veteran Qiu Dang. Now, Huang Youzheng lost 1-3 (8-11, 11-9, 7-11, 9-11) to Qiu Dang. This result is quite normal, as Qiu Dang is a top-ranked player in the world, and it is indeed difficult for Huang Youzheng and Chen Yuanyu to overcome him.
As for Xiang Peng, who was favored by many fans, he lost in a youthful confrontation with Japanese player Koki Niwa. Both are very young and can be considered excellent players of the younger generation. This time, the young national team player failed to achieve further success, with Xiang Peng losing 1-3 (9-11, 7-11, 11-9, 8-11) to Koki Niwa. Additionally, so far, Koki Niwa has achieved a perfect record in all three events he participated in, and his performance in the new season is worth cautioning.
Besides Koki Niwa, two other Japanese players advanced to the men's singles quarterfinals. Tomokazu Ishihara defeated his teammate Makoto Yoshida 3-1, basically performing at his normal level. Daiki Yoshimoto narrowly won 3-2 against Slovenian veteran Darko Jorgic, exceeding pre-tournament expectations. Koki Niwa lost 2-3 to Hong Kong, China's veteran Wong Chun Ting. Qiu Dang and Wong Chun Ting both play with the straight bat style, and another player, Felix Lebrun, did not participate in the competition.
At this stage, South Korea is left with only one player. Kanghyeon Park achieved another feat, defeating French player Boret 3-0. Nigerian veteran Aruna withstood pressure and eliminated Spanish player Robles 3-2. Danish player Groth secured the last spot, defeating Polish player Milos 3-2. As for the national team, they are summarizing their experience from the losses and hope that everyone will not lose heart and strive to achieve results in the next men's singles event.
This time, the national team showed drastically different results on two fronts. Five women's singles players advanced to the quarterfinals and continued to challenge for the championship, while no men's singles players advanced to the quarterfinals, with very few additional points earned. They were unable to bring surprises in foreign matches like Chen Yi and others. It is worth mentioning that two players from the Japanese women's team passed through, with Miyu Kato already falling behind. Hina Hayata, Miu Hirano, and Momo Iwamoto all lost to the national team, while Miu Hirano and Misuzu Ogura advanced to the next stage.
Men's singles quarterfinal matchups:
Tomokazu Ishihara (Japan) vs Koki Niwa (Japan)
Aruna (Nigeria) vs Kanghyeon Park (South Korea)
Daiki Yoshimoto (Japan) vs Wong Chun Ting (Hong Kong, China)
Qiu Dang (Germany) vs Groth (Denmark)