Young Chinese paddler Fan tastes first major title

Saarbrucken (Germany), Oct 4: The 19-year-old Fan Zhendong of China claimed his first title of major tournaments as he defeated teammate Xu Xin 4-1 in 2016 Men's World Cup final.

In a tournament featuring 20 top paddlers around the world, world No.2 Fan eliminated Gao Ning of Singapore and Jeoung Young Sik of South Korea in the last 16 and quarter-finals respectively, reports Xinhua. 

In Monday's semi-final, the promising youngster took out Kristian Karlsson of Sweden 4-1. Xu also saw off Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong, China 4-1 in the other semi-final.

Fan made better preparation than his compatriot Xu for the final, finishing many brilliant plays to seal the victory in the first game at 11-5. Fan also harvested confidence as he took the next two games at 11-6 and 11-8.

Xu made some adjustments in the interval to get one game back at 11-7, before Fan made a strong comeback from 4-0 down in the fifth game to secure the win at 12-10.

Wong beat Karlsson 4-1 to finish third at the tournament.

Fan proved himself as Chinese future star once again after winning ITTF World Tour China Open and National Championship titles recently. He and Xu will next prepare for the China Table Tennis Super League (CTTSL) to be held from October 15.