Taiwanese table tennis star Cheng I-ching loses both singles and doubles in T. League opening match

Taiwanese table tennis star Cheng I-ching returned to competition in her home country for the first time in nine years, but her comeback was met with defeat. Playing in the Japan T. League's first overseas opening match in Hsinchu, Cheng lost both her singles and doubles matches as her team, Kinoshita Aldric, fell 1-3 to Nagoya TC.

The T. League features a team format with one doubles match and three singles matches. Kinoshita Aldric's doubles pair, Cheng and South Korea's Yoo Eon-hye, lost their opening match 0-2 (9-11, 7-11) to Nagoya's Nao Hayata and Yuki Shiokawa. Despite an early lead in the first game, Cheng's team couldn't maintain momentum.

In the singles matches, Japan's Miyu Kihara secured a win for Kinoshita Aldric, but their opponents took the other two singles points. Cheng, in the pivotal fourth singles match, faced Nagoya's young talent Haruna Shiotani. She lost in straight sets, 0-3 (9-11, 9-11, 7-11), with crucial errors in the final points of each game sealing her fate.

The event drew significant attention, with Cheng receiving a warm welcome from the Taiwanese crowd. However, the results were disappointing for the star player and her team, as they couldn't secure a victory on home soil.