Chinese pair Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha defeated Tomokazu Harimoto/Hina Hayata 3-0 in the mixed doubles final at the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston on Sunday to win the first title for Team China at the tournament.

Wang/Sun gave Harimoto/Hayata a head-on blow from the beginning with their sharp offense. Having established a quick lead of 7-0, the Chinese pair soon won the first set 11-2.

The second set was not much different as Wang/Sun only trailed once 2-3 in the start but immediately responded a 6-1 run before claiming this set 11-5.

Harimoto/Hayata launched desperate counterattack in the third set. They first tied it 3-3 after trailing 3-1. Then again cut their deficit to one (7-6) from four (7-3). However, Wang/Sun refused to give them any other chance to rally and sealed the deal 11-8 in the end.

This was the 21st World Championships mixed doubles title won by Chinese players.

Earlier on the day. China-U.S. pair Lin Gaoyuan and Lily Zhang made history after winning the mixed doubles bronze medal.

The Chinese-American pair lost to Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata 3-2 in the semifinal. Because there is no third-place match at the tournament, Lin and Zhang were awarded bronze medals along with another pair from Chinese Taipei. Zhang has become the first American to win a World Table Tennis Championships medal in 62 years. 

With two sets down, Lin and Zhang rallied to recover their form in the third and fourth sets. But they failed to keep the momentum in the final set and lost to the Japanese pair 9-11, 1-11, 11-6, 11-8 and 2-11.

Also on Sunday, 21-year-old Sun pairing with compatriot Wang Manyu won the women's doubles semifinal 3-0 over Luxembourg's Sarah de Nutte and Xialian Ni.

Sun, silver medalist of the women's singles event at the Tokyo Olympics this summer, defeated South Korean Suh Hyo-won 4-0 on Sunday to secure a spot in the singles semifinals.

Another China-U.S. pair, Wang Manyu and Kanak Jha, lost in the round of 16 match on November 26.