China wins 6th straight women's title at World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals

Chinese paddlers lifted their sixth straight women's team title, also known as the Corbillon Cup, at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals on Saturday, extending their record to 23 after beating Japan 3-2.

World No. 1 Sun Yingsha put the defending champions ahead against teenager Miwa Harimoto 3-0 before Hina Hayata and Miu Hirano gave China a scare reversing the tie for Japan 2-1 in the best-of-5 series, upsetting Olympic champion Chen Meng 3-1 and world No. 2 Wang Yidi 3-0, respectively. Sun stepped up to give China a lifeline, upsetting Hayata 3-0, against whom Sun had a winning run of 12 games. 

In the deciding match, veteran Chen shook off early despair in her first-ever encounter with the Japanese hopeful, 15-year-old Harimoto, and sealed the deal for China 3-1, coming back from one game down in what was the fifth straight head-to-head final for the two sides at the World Championships. 

Sun gained a foothold right from the get-go, prevailing 11-5 in the opener. The second game was fiercer, as Harimoto shrugged off an early deficit to draw level at 8-all, but Sun bagged three points in a row to go up by a two-game margin.

With all cylinders firing, the world No. 1 built a 4-1 lead in the third game, forcing Harimoto into a timeout, winning 11-4 to put a point on the board for China.

In the following match, Chen emerged victorious 11-6 in the first game. But Hayata regrouped herself to hold four-game points at 10-6 and steady herself for an 11-8 win to bring their duel back to level.

Hayata changed the momentum from there, going ahead 10-5, and withstood Chen's rally to triumph 11-9 in the third game after calling a timeout.

The fourth game went in Chen's favor at an early stage, but a stubborn Hayata evened it at 7-all before taking the initiative in her hand. Despite Chen saving five set points, Hayata came through at 14-12 as the tie was level at one apiece.

Hirano then reigned supreme in backhand, dispatching Wang in straight games 11-8, 13-11, 12-10.

With China back against the wall, Sun got the ball rolling in an encounter featuring the two sides' No. 1 paddlers against Hayata, triumphing 11-2, 11-7, 11-6 to keep China's hope of title defense alive.

Coming into action again, Chen made up for her defeat earlier in the title showdown, returning from one game down to prevail 3-1 in her first meeting with the 16th-ranked Harimoto, bringing the clash, which lasted over three and a half hours to an end.

After Harimoto took the initiative at 11-4, Chen responded with an 11-7 win in the second game. Clearly knowing the importance of the third game, the two players went toe-to-toe for an 8-all tie before Chen held her nerve for three points in a row.

The Busan Exhibition and Convention Center erupted into cheers when Chen secured her final point in an 11-7 win in the fourth game.

On the men's side, China withstood pressure from hosts South Korea to triumph in a full-set semifinal thriller that lasted more than three hours to set up Sunday's final against France in pursuit of their 11th straight title.

World No. 1 Fan Zhendong picked up two wins and saved China from the brink of defeat, while Wang Chuqin made amends for his opening loss with a straight-game victory in the decisive matchup.

Amid the loud cheers from the crowd at the full-packed venue, Wang stepped up to the table first, facing off against Jang Woo-jin, the highest-ranked player in South Korea's squad.

Fueled by the home crowd's support, the 14th-ranked Jang raced ahead by one game at 11-7, but Wang pocketed eight points in a row on his way to an 11-2 victory in the second game to restore parity.

As both players focused on their first three strokes, quite a few rallies were seen for most of the match. Down 1-4 in the third game, Wang went neck and neck with his rival for an 11-all tie before the home paddler scored two straight points to prevail.

Facing a 1-4 deficit in the fourth game, Wang called a timeout, while Jang's two catch-net points thwarted the comeback effort from the world No. 2, who fell 11-6 as it marked the first dropped set for the reigning champions in the Busan event.

"His play went beyond my expectations," admitted Wang. "He had a tight grip of the match, and I was a little impatient when I had some chances."

Fan was next to hit the court, with the 18th-ranked Lim Jong-hoon across the table. Fan went ahead 7-4 in the opening game, but Lim put it on level terms at 7-all before Fan kept his cool to win 11-8.

China's top-ranked paddler had a perfect winning record in his previous four encounters with Lim, and he gained the upper hand throughout their duel, prevailing 11-6, 11-8 in the next two games to put his side level on the scoreboard.

The two sides turned to their veterans in the third set. 33-year-old home paddler Lee Sang-su took the initiative with an 11-7 victory in the first game. However, 35-year-old Olympic champion Ma Long, who had a 7-1 win-loss record in their head-to-heads, soon evened the match at 11-4.

In a pivotal third game, after the two players tied at 10-all, Lee snatched two late points to move ahead again.

Despite emerging victorious 11-6 in the fourth game to level the score again, Ma fell 11-4 in the deciding match as South Korea gained a 2-1 advantage.

Stepping on the court again, Fan and Jang put on their duel between the two sides' No. 1 paddlers. With the defending champions' hope of forcing the decisive matchup resting on his shoulders, Fan lived up to his task, prevailing 11-6, 11-7, 12-10, with both teams returning to level terms.

Wang closed out China's nail-biting victory with an 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 win against Lim.

(With input from Xinhua)