Table tennis fans, meet Chen Junsong (Men’s Singles No. 113).
The 20-year-old qualifier from China took down Japanese superstar Tomokazu Harimoto (No. 4) in the Round of 64 of China Smash 2025 on Monday. Chen knocked out Harimoto in five games, all of which were decided by three points or less.
The first game was a back-and-forth affair between these two players. Chen and Harimoto swapped leads until the score reached 9-8 at the 17th point. Harimoto then scored two quick points to end the game, 11-8.
The second game looked like Harimoto’s to lose, even going up 10-7 at the 17th point. That would be Harimoto’s final point of the game, though. Chen scored five straight points to snatch a 12-10 victory straight from Harimoto’s fingertips.
Harimoto scored the first point of the third game, but he gave up seven straight points to fall behind 7-1. He made an admirable comeback, stopping Chen’s momentum and forcing an 8-7 score, but it wasn’t enough. Chen regained his footing and ultimately won this game, 11-8.
Though he lost that game, Harimoto cooled down Chen’s hot streak. That helped Harimoto in the fourth game, as he forced a winner-take-all fifth game with an 11-8 victory in which he never once trailed.
Harimoto maintained control throughout that pivotal fifth game, forcing Chen to work for every single point. No matter how he tried, Chen couldn’t surpass Harimoto, who scored his ninth point when Chen only had five.
Those five points were all Chen needed.
Chen caught fire at the perfect time, right when a victory for Harimoto looked secure as ever. Chen scored his sixth point. And his seventh. And his eighth. And his ninth. And his tenth. All in a row. One more point would earn Chen a match that he was certain to lose just a few moments ago.
And he won that point, and every other point he scored on that streak, before Harimoto could score his 10th. Chen’s 11-9 victory in that fifth game earned him a spot in the Round of 32 and sent Harimoto home.
This is Harimoto’s second consecutive first-round elimination in a WTT event. He recently lost to China’s Xue Fei (No. 48) after only three games in the Round of 64 of WTT Champions Macao 2025.
Only one total point separated Chen (50) from Harimoto (49). Chen also won one more point on his own serve than Harimoto (27 to 26), and they won the same number of points on their opponents’ serve (23).
Chen will play France’s Thibault Poret (No. 35) in the Round of 32 on Wednesday. If he wins that match, he will face the winner of Korea’s Oh Junsung (No. 19) and Japan’s Kazuki Hamada (No. 78) in the Round of 16.
The victors of China Smash 2025 will be decided on Oct. 5.
