Table tennis: China bags four titles at WTT Contender Durban

Johannesburg, Jan 16 (IANS) Chinese paddlers clinched four titles at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender Durban which concluded in South Africa with a superb finale.

China’s Qian Tianyi broke open a 1-1 tie after two sets to get past her compatriot Fan Siqi 4-1 to be crowned the women’s singles champion.

Three doubles events of the tournament featured all-Chinese finals. Zhang Rui and Kuai Man beat Qian and Shi Xunyao 3-1 in the women’s doubles final, while Chen Yuanyu and Lin Shidong defeated Xu Yingbin and Xu Haidong 3-1 in the men’s doubles title contention.

Lin and Kuai emerged victorious 3-1 over Xue Fei and Qian in the mixed doubles final on Saturday, reports news agency Xinhua.

World No. 7 Hugo Calderano of Brazil swept Yaroslav Zhmudenko of Ukraine 4-0 in the men’s singles final.

Chinese paddlers will head to Doha, Qatar for the WTT Contender Doha.

–IANS

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