On January 15, 2025, a major upset occurred at the WTT Muscat station in table tennis. A renowned Chinese men's singles player lost 1-3 to a 16-year-old newcomer, and Chinese Taipei's rising star Guo Guanhong eliminated two-time World Youth Championship men's singles champion Xiang Peng, who was seeded fourth but stopped in the round of 16. No one expected him to fall at this stage.
Xiang Peng is 20 years old and ranked 22nd in the world. As a young player focused on by the national table tennis coaching staff, he has been considered outstanding among his peers, with generally satisfactory results. However, his progress has been slow, and he has not been able to reach higher stages. At the previous WTT Star Tournament in Doha, Xiang Peng partnered with Xu Yingbin to win the men's doubles championship in the final against Tomokazu Ishihara/Koki Niwa. However, he was eliminated in the men's singles by Koki Niwa.
This time, Xiang Peng had good luck in the draw, facing Guo Guanhong, a 16-year-old newcomer from Chinese Taipei, who has not participated in adult group events for long and is only ranked 216th in the world. Originally, fans of the national table tennis team thought there would be no problem, but an issue arose, making him the second top-four seed to exit after Aruna.
After the start of the match, in the first game, Xiang Peng initially played well, fully utilizing his advantage in forehand and slightly dominating during the rallies. Guo Guanhong is only 16 years old, and the quality of his shots is much lower. However, when Xiang Peng led 9-7, he suddenly lost focus, appearing somewhat anxious, and made several unnecessary mistakes in the serving rotation. Guo Guanhong took the lead with a score of 12-10. Xiang Peng's on-site performance was too unstable, and it seemed difficult for him to maintain concentration.
In the second game, Guo Guanhong continued to target Xiang Peng's backhand, using changes in the first three boards to avoid giving him opportunities to take the initiative. The two sides played back and forth. Faced with an unfamiliar style of play, Xiang Peng became tense, and Guo Guanhong took the lead throughout, winning another game with a score of 11-8. In the third game, Xiang Peng finally found his rhythm and returned the favor with an 11-2 victory. Before the match, the national table tennis veterans were unprepared for the difficulties and did not expect Guo Guanhong to be so strong.
In the fourth game, Xiang Peng lost focus again, and Guo Guanhong reached match point at 10-6. Although Xiang Peng once chased two points in a row, Guo Guanhong still ended the game with a score of 11-8, ultimately eliminating Xiang Peng 3-1. This result was surprising; no one expected that Xiang Peng, a key training target of the national table tennis team and the fourth-seeded men's singles player in the event, would stop in the round of 16 and lose to the 16-year-old Chinese Taipei newcomer Guo Guanhong, with their world rankings differing by nearly 200 places.
Although Guo Guanhong is young and has issues such as insufficient strength and lack of experience, he played very intelligently, constantly adjusting his opponents through lines and landing points. On the other hand, Xiang Peng's performance was truly unsatisfactory, exposing shortcomings in on-site adjustments and other areas. Additionally, he did not sign up for the men's doubles at this station, and his mixed doubles partner Kuai Man was eliminated in the first round. His final results were not as expected, and there is room for improvement in the handling of details.