Zhang Jike beat Wang Hao to win  men's singles title at the GAC GROUP World Table Tennis Championships in Rotterdam on Sunday 15th May. [Source: Sina.com]

At his seventh and first attempt, Zhang Jike won the men's singles title at the GAC GROUP World Table Tennis Championships in Rotterdam on Sunday 15th May, beating teammate and defending champion Wang Hao in the final.

Zhang Jike played for China in the Liebherr World Team Championships in May 2010 but Rotterdam was his first appearance in the men's singles event. In a sensational contest, it was on his seventh match point that he secured victory, the relief was eveident as he fell to the floor in triumph.

Zhang lay down on the floor after grabbing the last point, then ripped his jersey and shouted for celebration. "I think my mentality is good. The more the audience is, the more excited I am," said Zhang, who knocked out of world No. 2 Timo Boll in the semifinals earlier, 7-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-3, 11-9.

The two-time Olympic silver medallist Wang didn't looked too frustrated but revealed that the rubber of his paddle was ripped by the staff from racket control for no reason minutes before the start of the game and he had to hurriedly glue it back.

"I didn't know why they did that," said Wang, who defeated veteran Wang Liqin to win the title two years ago. "My paddle had past the test."

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