DURBAN – China’s Sun Yingsha made a career breakthrough by lifting her first singles trophy at the World Table Tennis Championships on Sunday.
The event’s top seed defeated compatriot and Olympic champion Chen Meng 4-2 in the final.
After winning world titles in the team event, women’s doubles and mixed doubles, this is Sun’s first world title in singles, having finished behind Chen at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
The World Table Tennis (WTT) website quoted Sun as saying: “It is not easy for me to win the game. I lost to (Wang) Manyu in the final last time (in 2021), but the charm of competitive sports lies in the excitement and tension.
“Today, Chen Meng and I are both winners, maybe I am more lucky today. I learnt a lot from Chen Meng. She is a very respectable opponent.”
This is the 22-year-old’s second title in South Africa after she and Wang Chuqin retained their mixed doubles crown on Friday.
In a repeat of the 2021 final, the top-ranked Chinese pair overwhelmed world No. 2 Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata of Japan 11-6, 11-2, 11-7.
On what her success in Durban means to her, Sun said: “This is a good start and affirmation for myself. I hope I can get better and better in the following competitions.”
In the men’s singles, Fan Zhendong of China retained the title with a 4-2 victory over compatriot and doubles teammate Wang.
In a clash of the top two seeds, world No. 1 Fan outplayed the first-time singles finalist 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10, 11-13, 11-3.
It is China’s 10th straight men’s singles crown at the table tennis world championships, a run dating back to 2005.
Before their duel on Sunday, Fan and Wang had claimed the men’s doubles title together, after beating South Korea’s Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon 13-11, 11-6, 11-5 in the final. Both paddlers will leave Durban with two titles each.
Fan told WTT’s website: “Wang played very well today. Once (he) made me suffocate, after losing the first game in fact, and the second game was also very difficult.
“The fifth game I was in such a good situation, but I lost it. At that time I thought the game was not over, that I still had a chance, so I did very well in the sixth game. This championship means a lot.”
China have secured all five titles, with Chen and Wang Yidi triumphing in the women’s doubles on Saturday. They got past Jeon Ji-hee and Shin Yu-bin of South Korea 11-8, 11-7, 12-10 in the final.
China did not win the men’s doubles title in Houston. XINHUA
