In a thrilling final at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships in Doha, second seeds Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha defeated Maharu Yoshimura and Satsuki Odo of Japan 3-1 to secure their third straight mixed doubles title.
The Chinese duo overcame a late push from their 16th-seeded opponents, winning 11-7, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8 in just 39 minutes, stretching their unbeaten run to 16 matches at the event.
"Our rivals posed a great threat with cohesion and tactics, even if they are both right-handed," said Sun. "We trusted each other when the score was close and shared the same determination to make it three in a row."
First Vice President of the ITTF, Liu Guoliang, presented the championship trophy to the pair, capping off a dominant display.
Earlier, both players advanced to their respective singles finals. Wang avenged his Olympic final loss by overcoming Truls Moregard of Sweden 5-11, 11-8, 11-2, 12-10, 12-10 in 45 minutes, setting up a title match against Brazil's Hugo Calderano, who beat Chinese top seed Liang Jingkun in a seven-game epic.
On the women's side, Sun outplayed Japan's Mima Ito 11-7, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4 to reach the final, where she will face compatriot Wang Manyu, fresh off an 11-8, 11-8, 11-2, 11-8 win over Chen Xingtong.
Sun also has a chance at a third gold in Doha after pairing with Kuai Man to rout Japan's Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Kihara 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 in the women's doubles semis. They will meet Austria's Sofia Polcanova and Romania's Bernadette Szocs in the final.
Reference(s):
Wang, Sun win mixed doubles title at Table Tennis World Championships
cgtn.com
