Zhang Jike and Li Xiaoxia won the prestigious men’s and women’s singles titles as the Liebherr World table tennis championships ended in Paris, France yesterday.
Jike, the defending and Olympic Champion, defeated compatriot Wang Hao 4-2 in a gripping final.
Jike won 11-7, 11-8, 6-11, 14-12, 5-11 and 11-7. This was the second occasion in a major championship that Jike had gotten the better of Hao following his victory in last year’s Olympic Games in London.
In the semi-finals Jike had upset the number one seed Xu Xin 4-0 while Hao got the better of number two seed Ma Long 4-2.
Jike defeated southpaw Xin 11-8, 11-2, 11-9, and 12-10 in a shocking upset while Hao defeated Long 11-9, 11-7, 11-3, 7-11, 12-14 and 11-3.
In the quarter finals Xin defeated Japan’s Kenta Matsudira 4-2; Jike defeated Germany’s Patrick Baum 4-1; Hao defeated fellow Chinese An Yan 4-2 and Long defeated Germany’s Timo Boll 4-2.
In the women’s final Xiaoxia, like Jike added the World title to her Olympic title with an 11-8, 4-11, 11-7, 12-10, 6-11 and 13-11 win over Liu Shiwen also of China.
In the semi-finals top seed Ding Ning lost to Xiaoxia 8-11, 11-1, 11-4, 11-13, 6-11 and 8-11 while Shiwen, the number two seed beat Zhu Yuling 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5 and 8-11.
