Fan, Sun win singles titles at WTT Ljubljana
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E-mail Xinhua, July 10, 2023
2023 World Championship winners Fan Zhendong and Sun Yingsha claimed men's and women's singles titles respectively on Sunday at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Contender Ljubljana.
World No.1 Sun took seven games to beat Olympic champion Chen Meng 3-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 14-12, 9-11, 11-6 to win the women's singles title.
Chen had sported the better record in deciding games, with a 68 percent win rate to Sun's 59 percent. However, in Ljubljana, the roles were reversed. The decider was one way traffic, with Sun cruising ahead early and maintaining the lead throughout.
The win locks in Sun's third WTT Series title of 2023, having already won the Singapore Smash and WTT Champions Xinxiang this year.
"Both of us played well today. In both tactical and psychological aspects, we made every possible effort. Almost every time we play against each other, we fight six or seven games. Today I was lucky to win in the end. In the deciding game, I had a few shots that on the net," said 22-year-old Sun.
The World No.1 will extend her lead at the top of the world rankings with the win. Sun's victory also sees her get back to winning ways after falling short in the final to Miu Hirano of Japan at WTT Contender Zagreb.
The men's singles final between Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin also saw a seven-game clash. Just as in the final of the World Championships, Fan took victory, edging his compatriot 15-13, 8-11, 3-11, 11-4, 11-7, 7-11, 12-10.
"We played fantastic games with good quality. Both of us fought for a good start to each game and we could turn leads into victories," said Fan. "We know each other so well and we want to make some changes to press each other. I'm not at my best though, I tried to push myself to stay in the world best list."
Elsewhere, in the doubles finals, Wang Yidi and Kuai Man took three straight games to win the women's doubles title over Ni Xialian and Sarah De Nutte from Luxembourg 11-5, 11-6, 11-6. Lin Shidong and Xiang Peng were crowned men's doubles champions by defeating Ma Long and Yuan Licen, 11-9, 9-11, 11-13, 11-7, 11-5.
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