Agency :
China’s top-ranked mixed doubles pair Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha reasserted their dominance as they claimed their third consecutive World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash title on Friday.
The Chinese duo dispatched world No. 3 Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin of South Korea 3-1 in the final.
Down 4-6, Wang and Sun notched four points on the bounce to regain the lead en route to an 11-7 win in the opening game.
After the South Korean duo pulled within 8-7 in the second game, Wang and Sun called a timeout, before steadying themselves for an 11-8 victory and a two-game lead.
Lim and Shin gave themselves a glimpse of hope with an 11-9 win in the third game, but Wang and Sun emerged victorious 11-7 to close out the win.
“Both pairs played excellently, and we are quite familiar with each other.
Lim and Shin are among the world’s top players in terms of their strength in the singles event and overall capability, so we went all out on the court,” commented Sun.
In addition to mixed doubles success, China also ensured themselves of women’s singles and men’s doubles titles.
In the women’s singles quarterfinal, Wang Manyu fell 11-9 and 11-8 in the first two games against Mima Ito of Japan, while the third-ranked Chinese paddler began to find her footing in the third game, pulling off a comeback win 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 and 11-9.
Also on Friday, Olympic champion Chen Meng sailed past South Korea’s Shin Yu-bin in five games.
The remaining two semifinal berths are taken up by Chen Xingtong and Wang Yidi, who both triumphed in all-Chinese encounters, ensuring that a Chinese paddler will win the title.
Chen dispatched top-ranked Sun Yingsha 4-2, while Wang saw off Qian Tianyi 4-1. “As my opponent today has been the world No. 1 for a long time, I didn’t have any burden,” explained Chen.
After outplaying Anton Kallberg and Mattias Falck of Sweden 3-1 in the men’s doubles semifinal, Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin will now face Chinese compatriots Ma Long and Lin Gaoyuan, who enjoyed a walkover against South Korean duo Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon.
In the men’s singles quarterfinal, China’s Liang Jingkun went the full distance to edge Germany’s veteran Timo Boll. Liang will next face Lin Yun-ju of Chinese Taipei, who dispatched Germany’s Patrick Franziska 4-1.
France’s teenage penholder Felix Lebrun triumphed 4-1 in a battle of generations over India’s Sharath Kamal Achanta, 24 years his senior.
