XINXIANG, China, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) — Chinese paddlers had a good opening day as the World Cup Table Tennis (WTT) Finals kicked off in Xinxiang, central China’s Henan Province on Thursday.
Chinese women paddlers got off to a flying start at the WTT Cup final as Wang Yidi and Sun Yingsha both won 3-0 against Jeon Ji-hee of South Korea and Nina Mittelham of Germany. Chen Meng and Wang Manyu also defeated their opponents 3-1.
“Nina Mittelham is a player of great strength and talent, and I prepared a lot before the match,” said Sun. “I’m happy with my performance today.”
“This is the third tournament I have played in a row. I need to focus more on the stage,” Chen said.
In other women’s encounters, Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa defeated compatriot Miyuu Kihara 3-1, Mima Ito defeated Portugal’s Fu Yu 3-0, Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico beat Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong, China 3-1, and China’s Chen Xingtong eased past. Monaco’s Yang Xiaoxin 3-1.
On the men’s side, Olympic champion Ma Long recovered from a match down to defeat Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic 3-1. His teammate Wang Chuqin claimed a 3-1 victory over European champion Qiu Dang. World number 3 Truls Moregard from Sweden beat Hugo Calderano from Brazil 3-1.
“He (Qiu) played very aggressively in the first set,” Wang said. “But then I gradually rounded into shape.”
In the other men’s matches, Harimoto Tomokazu of Japan beat Patrick Franziska of Germany 3-0, Lin Yun-ju of Chinese Taipei defeated Quadri Aruna of Nigeria 3-1, Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany beat Chuang Chih-Yuan of Chinese Taipei 3-2 and Germany’s Timo Boll defeated China’s Lin Gaoyuan 3-2.
Source: sn.dk