China secure women's singles gold at WTT Champions Frankfurt

Team China secured the women's singles gold medal at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions Frankfurt on Saturday, when Wang Manyu and Wang Yidi downed Japan's Hina Hayata and China's world No.1 Sun Yingsha, respectively, to set up the final.

Wang Yidi, who ranks fifth in the world, shocked top-seeded Sun 4-2 (11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7) despite a 3-5 head-to-head record between the two, and in the wake of a miserable 1-4 defeat from the Xinxiang leg of the WTT Champions series in April.

Third-seeded Wang Manyu had to battle through an injury setback to advance over the Japanese world No.4 4-1(11-8, 11-2, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7) in their first encounter. Wang clinched eight points in a row in the first set after Hayata opened with a 8-3 lead, and established a 2-0 lead with a merciless 11-2 second-set win, before Hayata capitalized on her 9-3 lead in the third set. Wang went on to wrap up the victory with incredible mental strength despite her left-knee injury.

"I did not let go of the fight even when I was 3-8 behind in the first game. I just focused on every single point and it was important to win that game. At the beginning of the third game, I twisted my knee a little in the middle of a rally. After the medical break I managed to focus on each game again," said Wang.

"It happens from time to time in training as well, so it's nothing new for me. To win the match despite injury is also a challenge I need to face," she added.

Meanwhile, in the men's singles event, Olympic champion Ma Long, 35, won the "battle of generations" against French hopeful Felix Lebrun, 17, to secure a berth in the final 11-8, 11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8, setting up a showdown with Team Chinese Taipei's Lin Yun-Ju, who saw off second-seeded Wang Chuqin 11-7, 11-13, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-2.

"The players are different only in styles or levels, not in ages. You can see it's not an easy game today. Felix is among the top ten around the world not by luck, but his power and quality. He played so fast and I believe most of the players would have the same confusion as me in the contest against him," said Ma.

(With input from Xinhua)