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E-mail Xinhua, March 18, 2024
Wang Chuqin and Wang Manyu emerged victorious respectively in the men's and women's finals on Sunday to round up China's clean sweep of titles at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash.
Men's singles champion Wang Chuqin (R) of China and women's singles champion Wang Manyu of China pose for photos during the awarding ceremony at the World Table Tennis Singapore Smash 2024 in Singapore, March 17, 2024. (Photo by Then Chih Wey/Xinhua)
In his maiden singles finals appearance in a WTT Grand Smash, second seed Wang Chuqin beat the odds to win 11-6, 11-8, 13-11, 9-11, 11-6 over Liang Jingkun, who had defeated Wang in their last two meetings before Sunday's event.
Boasting a clinical 88.9 percent success rate on serve, Wang soon raced into a 1-0 lead, before the world No. 2 came back from trailing 3-6 and bagged eight of the following 10 points to double his advantage to 2-0.
With the scores locked at 5-5 in the third game, there was a pause in play as Wang requested a racquet change. Turning to his spare racquet, it took some time for Wang to re-tune, allowing Liang to open up a 10-7 lead. However, Wang found his footing just in time, saving three game points before rescuing a fourth at 10-11 to deny Liang 13-11.
Liang showed character in game four, winning an outstanding rally at 4-6 and going on to take the game and reduce the deficit to 3-1, but Wang held his nerve in the fifth and shut the door on his Chinese compatriot.
"I've put all my efforts into this tournament, which offers the highest ranking points. In the final, I was very focused and going all out, and it's all worth it at the end of the day," said Wang, who turns 24 in May.
"I'm very happy right now, but in the next morning, I'll be back working hard again, since there's the next competition waiting for me and my goal goes far beyond winning a WTT Grand Smash," he added.
In the women's draw, world No. 3 Wang Manyu, a beaten finalist in the tournament's 2022 edition, finally got her hands on the singles trophy with a five-set win over fourth-ranked compatriot Wang Yidi, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 11-1.
Adding to the coveted trophy, Wang Manyu had booked her ticket to this year's final with a semifinal win over Chen Meng, who had beaten her to the title in 2022.
"I'm very happy to win a WTT Grand Smash. Every match counts in a year like this year, with an Olympic Games in sight, and I want a good result in each outing. I'm glad to have won this tournament," said the former world champion.
On Saturday, Ma Long and Lin Gaoyuan won the men's doubles title with a nail-biting 3-2 victory over teammates and former champions Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin, and Chen Meng and Wang Manyu were crowned women's doubles champions after a 3-0 victory over Li Yu-jhun and Cheng I-ching of Chinese Taipei.
Top-ranked mixed doubles pair Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha claimed their third consecutive title on Friday.
