Doha: China secured 1-2 finishes in both singles and doubles at the 2023 World Table Tennis (WTT) Men’s Finals here on Friday.
Wang Chuqin defeated world No. 1 Fan Zhendong 11-8, 11-9, 14-12, 11-7 to be crowned the singles champion, while Yuan Licen and Xiang Peng beat Lin Gaoyuan and Lin Shidong 11-8, 11-2, 11-8 in the doubles final, reported Xinhua
“I never thought I would win with such a score. Playing against brother Dong (Fan Zhendong), I had no burden at all and the pressure was all on his side. I approached the game with a mindset to challenge him,” Wang said.
The singles and doubles semifinals took place on the same day, and Wang Chuqin, who paired with Fan Zhendong to have lost to Lin Gaoyuan and Lin Shidong 11-8, 11-9, 12-10 in the semis, played three matches in a day.
He eased past Germany’s Qiu Dang 4-0 in the singles semifinals after the latter ousted two Chinese paddlers, Li Shidong and Liang Jingkun, in a row. Fan won 4-0 over Lin Gaoyuan in the other semifinal.
Yuan and Xiang expressed their joy after winning the doubles title. “We are very happy. We didn’t expect the match to go so smoothly, but we maintained our composure on the court.”
