China sweep Asian T-T titles

Talking of the matches,World no. 9 Ding Ning caused a flutter in the tournament when she upset world no. 4,Li Xiaoxia 4-3 in the women’s singles final. The match was a real treat to watch and kept the spectators guessing till the end. Both the players exhibited an attacking game. Down by 0-1,Ding made a strong comeback and kept challenging the higher ranked opponent with good confidence to ultimately win the nail-biting encounter by 5-11,11-8,7-11,11-5,7-11,11-7,11-7. The men’s singles crown went to world no.2,Ma Long of China who defeated countrymate Zhang Jike 4-2 in the final.

In the women’s doubles final,top seeded Chinese pair of Ding Ning and Li Xiaoxia defeated third seeded Korean pair of Kim Kyung Ah and Park Mi Young 4-2. A slight upset was caused in the men’s doubles final when second seeded pair of Ma Long and Xu Xin defeated top seeded duo of Wang Liqin and Zhang Jike 4-0.

China had already won the Team Championship finals in both the men’s and women’s section besides winning the mixed doubles crown on the penultimate day.

The Indian challenge ended in the 19th Asian Table Tennis Championships with the defeat of the Indians in both the men’s doubles and women’s doubles in the third round on Saturday.

The Results: Men’s Singles: (Final): Ma Long (China) bt Zhang Jike (China) 4-2; (Semi-Finals): Ma Long (Chn) beat Xu Xin (Chn) 4-2 (9-11,11-6,9-11,12-10,14-12,11-6); Zhang Jike (Chn) bt Wang Liqin (Chn) 4-3 (11-7,10-12,11-5,11-13,11-8,6-11,12-10);

Women’s Singles: (Final): Ding Ning (China) bt Li Xiaoxia (China) 4-3 (5-11,11-8,7-11,11-5,7-11,11-7,11-7); (Semi-finals): Li Xiaoxia (Chn) bt Fan Ying (Chn) 4-0 (14-12,11-9,12-10,11-3); Ding Ning (Chn) bt Liu Shiwen (Chn) 4-1 (9-11,11-5,11-6,11-8,11-7);

Women’s Doubles: (Final): Ding Ning/ Li Xiaoxia (China) beat Kim Kyung Ah/ Park Mi Young (Korea) 4-2 (11-9,9-11,12-10,12-14,11-9,13-11); Men’s Doubles: (Final): Ma Long/ Xu Xin (China) beat Wang Liqin/ Zhang Jike (China) 4-0 (11-9,11-6,11-5,11-8).