On the evening of April 5, the ITTF Men’s and Women’s World Cup concluded at Galaxy Arena in Macao. The two singles titles went to Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha.

The women’s final was an all-Chinese affair, Sun Yingsha beating Wang Manyu 4-1 (11-9, 11-8, 13-11, 8-11, 11-7) to become the first woman ever to win three consecutive World Cup singles titles, and extending China’s run of sweeping the women’s final to a seventh straight edition. The first four games were all decided on crucial points; Sun said every match had left a deep impression because “it was just too difficult.”

The men’s final was the tighter one. Wang Chuqin faced 18-year-old Japanese player Sora Matsushima and needed all seven games to win 4-3 (9-11, 18-16, 11-8, 11-13, 8-11, 11-4, 11-8) for his first World Cup singles crown. The 18-16 second game, a long tug-of-war, essentially set his mental baseline for the match. In the semifinals he had dismissed defending champion Hugo Calderano of Brazil 4-1 (11-7, 11-3, 11-7, 6-11, 12-10), showing his form had been dialed up to tournament level.

Matsushima’s tournament is worth a line as well. He eliminated Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-ju 4-3 in the semifinals and pushed Wang to a deciding game in the final — the Japanese youngster is now a stable presence in the very top tier of the sport.

For China, this World Cup was a clean mid-cycle check. Wang filled the one blank on his cabinet — a World Cup men’s singles — and another piece of the Grand Slam singles map fell into place; Sun’s three-peat shows the women’s singles grip is not loosening any time soon. But a seven-game men’s final where Matsushima nearly overturned it is a reminder that, against foreign associations, the men’s margin for error is visibly shrinking.