The men's singles world champion fell foul of the administration's rules on romantic liaisons five years ago when he started going out with fellow national team player Fan Ying.
In a move that dismayed women's rights activists but was perhaps more about their relative world rankings, Wang was not punished but 17-year-old Fan was dismissed from the national team and sent back to her province.
With a world title and two Olympic silver medals under his belt, however, Wang's new relationship with former national champion Peng Luyang has been given the seal of approval by national team manager Huang Biao.
"We never forbid a player having a girlfriend as long as he meets the age requirement," Huang said. "As for the relationships between players, we do not advocate them but we do not oppose them either.
"Wang is 26 and Lu is 23. It is normal to have a love affair at this age," Huang added, using the traditional Chinese method of calculating age that makes children one year old at birth.It is possible that table tennis officials, among the most conservative in China's state sports system, now believe a long-term relationship with Peng will prove a stabilising influence on Wang. Last October, he was offered counselling after an altercation with a karaoke club security guard.
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