China stays on top on two fronts at table tennis team worlds
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E-mail Xinhua, October 3, 2022
Chinese men's and women's paddlers both registered their second victories in as many group matches at the World Team Championships here on Sunday.
Despite not dispatching men's world No. 1 Fan Zhendong, China was too strong to be upset by the United States.
Ma Long bounced back from losing the first set 11-7 to move China ahead 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 in the following three sets.
"There are some opponents that you are not familiar with. He showed characteristics and I had some unforced errors in the first set, but I made adjustments from the second set," said Ma.
After world No. 3 Liang Jingkun accounted for Liang Jishan of the United States in straight sets, China sealed the win as Lin Gaoyuan beat Earl James Alto with the same score.
A 21-time winner of the Swaythling Cup, China will face Slovenia, who also has two wins from two matches, on Monday.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran produced a heroic performance with victories over Benedikt Duda and Qiu Dang, as India stunned world No. 2 Germany 3-1.
Japan was made to sweat in a 3-2 win over Romania, with Shunsuke Togami having the final say.
On the women's side, Wang Manyu came through a tight first set to get the better of Adriana Diaz 12-10, 11-4, 11-5.
"Adriana is stronger than my opponent yesterday. I just played point by point when I trailed in the first set and winning the opening set helped me a lot afterward," said Wang.
Chen Meng doubled the hosts' lead by saving two set points against Daniely Rios to win the first set 12-10 and emerging victorious 11-9, 11-4 in the next two sets.
Chen thought it was normal that the first two sets were fiercely contested as it was their first head-to-head.
"She played aggressively in the first set, and I needed to do better in details," commented Chen.
In her debut at this year's tournament, Wang Yidi never looked threatened by Adriana's elder sister Melanie, winning 11-1, 11-2, 11-3 to close out a resounding 3-0 victory for China.
China is seeking a fifth straight women's team title, known as the Corbillon Cup, in Chengdu.
"Hopefully we will defend the title," said an upbeat Wang Yidi.
Japan, one of the challengers to China's title defense, also won their second match as Mima Ito, Hitomi Sato and Miyu Nagasaki contributed to a 3-0 victory over Poland. Hong Kong of China, Singapore and Germany kept their winning records intact in the first two matches as well on Sunday.
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