“Suns shines in women’s singles while Fan defends men’s singles at Durban World Table Tennis Championships”

Durban World Table Tennis Championships: Sun Yingsha’s first “Queen” Fan Zhendong defends men’s singles

2023-05-29 11:00:52.0 Source: Xinhuanet
Author: Su Bin, Xie Jiang

Sun Yingsha defeated teammate Chen Meng 4:2 in the women’s singles final of the Durban World Table Tennis Championships on the 28th, and won her first singles championship trophy at the World Table Tennis Championships. Fan Zhendong defeated Wang Chuqin 4:2 and successfully defended the men’s singles championship. The Chinese team won five individual championships in this World Table Tennis Championships.

Chen Meng has a slight advantage with 5:4 in the past record of fighting. This is the second time the two have met in the final of the World Series after the Tokyo Olympics. After Chen Meng successfully won the first game with 11:5, he chased the score to 8:8 when he fell behind at the beginning of the second game, but Sun Yingsha scored 3 points in a row. Since then, Sun Yingsha has the upper hand in the scene. She won two more rounds with 11:7 and 11:7, taking a 3:1 lead in rounds. Although Chen Meng pulled back with 11:7 in the fifth game, Sun Yingsha readjusted in the sixth game and secured her first singles championship at the World Table Tennis Championships with 11:6.

“I lost more before, especially in the finals, and today I managed to break through myself.” Sun Yingsha said after the game, “Sister Meng (Chen Meng) and I fought all the way to the finals. Whether we win or lose, we are already victorious.” I was very lucky to win the game, but there are still many problems worth summarizing. I hope that I will continue to work hard through this game and the future will get better and better.”

Fan Zhendong has a 7:2 lead against Wang Chuqin in the past record. During the game, the two contributed high-quality multi-shot stalemate many times, and the wonderful scenes made the audience enjoy watching. As soon as Wang Chuqin came up, he was like a rainbow, and he went down first with 11:8. Fan Zhendong responded calmly. He won three games in a row at 11:9, 11:7, and 12:10, and once held five match points in the fifth game, but they were all resolved by Wang Chuqin, who reversed and won at 13:11 next game. In the sixth game, Fan Zhendong did not give his opponent too many chances. He started with 7:1 and secured the championship with 11:3.

At present, the Chinese team has completed 15 consecutive championships in women’s singles and 10 consecutive championships in men’s singles at the World Table Tennis Championships. In addition, Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin teamed up to help the Chinese team regain the men’s doubles championship, Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha defended the mixed doubles championship, the women’s doubles championship belonged to Chen Meng/Wang Yidi, and Guoping won five championships in this tournament.

Fan Zhendong said that he is very satisfied with the results, and there are many gains and different feelings in the process. “Cooperating with Wang Chuqin in doubles, I still look forward to a breakthrough. This time, I also achieved my goal. The gold medal in doubles is very meaningful to the Chinese team. The singles has come all the way, and the state still has ups and downs. As the game progresses, my state is getting better and better. Well, the mentality on the court is also more mature than the previous few times,” he said.

Between the two singles finals that day, the ITTF awarded the re-engraved St. Brad Cup to Ma Long, who had completed three consecutive men’s singles championships at the World Table Tennis Championships from 2015 to 2019.