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Journalism of Courage
MANCHESTER, May 5: Jan-Ove Waldner BEAT vLADIMIR sAMSONOV 21-12, 21-17, 21-13 to win the men8217;s singles title at the Table Tennis World Championships here today for yet another major win.
Sweden8217;s 1992 Olympic champion earned his second title, after Dortmund in 1989, at the expense of 21-year-old Samsonov from Belarus.
The lanky Samsonov had defeated the last of Chinese challenge in the men8217;s singles when he shocked world No 1 Kong Linghui 21-15, 21-18, 17-21, 21-17 in the semi-finals. Waldner, 10-years older than Samsonov, defeated Yan Sen of China 21-17, 21-14, 21-12.
Waldner, however, suffered a loss in the doubles final when he and Jorgen Persson were beating by China8217;s Liu Guoliang and Kong Linghui in the doubles final.
Liu and Kong won 19-21, 21-15, 18-21, 21-13, 21-17 to keep the title in China after wins by Wang Tao and the now retired Liu Wei in both 1993 and 1995.
Earlier, Dend Yaping beat Chinese compatriot Wang Nan 12-21, 21-8, 21-11, 21-10 to win her third women8217;s singles title.
At just 24, Olympic champion Deng has already won every major title and is the most successful woman8217;s player in the modern era.
She won world titles in 1991 in Chiba, Japan, and two years ago on home soil in Tianjin, China.
Wang, runner-up in the Italian and Yugoslav Opens this season, had a great start as she led 11-6 and 16-9 in the first set.
Deng made uncharacteristic errors against the left-handed Wang and finally conceded the set 21-12 when she blocked a backhand off the end of the table. However a motivated Deng shot from 7-4 to 13-4 ahead in the second set with quick hits from both wings and eventually a Wang backhand error meant Deng won 21-8 to level at 1-1.
The third set also looked easy for Deng as she once more led 13-4 and 19-10 before taking the set 21-11 when her opponent hit a backhand long.
And, shaking her fist in the air after each point won, Deng kept up the pressure to lead 9-1 in the fourth set before wrapping up victory 21-10 when Wang netted a backhand.
Deng added another title to her kitty when she along with Yang Ying won the women8217;s doubles here to bring China8217;s sixth gold out of a possible seven. Deng and Yang beat compatriots Li Ju and Wang Nan 21-17, 22-20, 17-21, 19-21, 21-11 to earn Deng her third gold.
China won the men8217;s and women8217;s team gold, all the three doubles title and the women8217;s singles to make it six out of seven.
