China defeated Japan yesterday to win the Women’s Championship Division of the World Table tennis Championships in Germany.
Seeded first for the 2018 competition and aiming to defend their crown, the China squad understandably entered the tie as favourites but in a breathtaking start to the match it was Japan who struck first as Liu Shiwen suffered a surprise five-game defeat to Mima Ito (9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 10-12).
Looking for a quick response China neutralised the deficit through Ding Ning, who saw off Miu Hirano without dropping a game (11-6, 12-10, 13-11) and not long after the advantage was in China’s court with Zhu Yuling proving too strong for Kasumi Ishikawa (11-4, 11-7, 11-8). Avenging her early defeat, Liu Shiwen put in a strong showing against Miu Hirano (11-6, 11-6, 12-10) to see China lift the trophy for a fourth consecutive occasion.