Wu Wen-Chia, an inspiration to Taipei table tennis

Wu Wen-Chia from Chinese Taipei was playing competitive table tennis at the world men’s events level from 1985 till 1998. In the World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1985, Wu Wen-Chia reached the round of 32 in the singles, round of 16 in the doubles, and quarterfinals in the mixed doubles. In the Asian Cups, he was placed seventh in the 1986 Tournament in Karachi, Pakistan and in the 1987 Tournament in Seoul, Korea. In the 1988 Asian Cup in Manila, Philippines, he came fourth. In the 1990 Asian Championship ATTU in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and in the Asian Cup in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1991, Wu Wen-Chia reached the quarterfinals.

In the 1994 Asian Games held in Hiroshima, Japan, Wu Wen-Chia reached the quarterfinals in the singles event and semifinals in the mixed doubles event. In the same year, in the Asian Championships ATTU in Tianjin, China, Wu reached the quarterfinals in the singles event and semifinals in the doubles. Later, in 1996, in the same Championships in Kallang, Singapore, Wu again reached the quarterfinals in the singles event. In the 1997 World Championships in Manchester, England, Wu was eliminated in the round of 64 and next year, in the ITTF Pro Tour in Malaysia, he reached the round of 32 in the singles and round of 16 in the doubles.

After that, Wu Wen-Chia slowly faded from active tournament participation and retired. He then started coaching the Taipei national team. Wu Wen-Chia was an inspiration to the current Chinese Taipei table tennis players and he had coached many of the Taipei players at the top level now like Chiang Peng-Lung.

In the 1985 U.S. Open Table Tennis Championships, Wu Wen-Chia defeated Jiang Jialiang of China in the semifinals but lost to Cheng Yinghua in the finals. A year earlier, in 1984, in the U.S. Open held in Las Vegas, Nevada, Wu Wen-Chia became the men’s singles champion, which was the biggest milestone in the table tennis career of Wu Wen-Chia. He again combined with Huang Huei-Chieh to triumph in the doubles event also. In 1985, Wu also defeated Chiang Chieh-Lian from China, who was world number one at that time, another major victory for Wu.