ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open champion Ma Long (third left) and runner-up Lin Gaoyuan pose for a photograph with Khaleel Al Mohannadi (right), President of Qatar and Arab table tennis associations and International Table Tennis Federation CEO Steve
Doha: Chinese table tennis star Ma Long yesterday capped his dream run with a powerful exhibition of attacking shots in six games to lift the Qatar Open title.
Ma Long, coming off an injury lay-off, yesterday beat compatriot Lin Gaoyuan, the no.2 seed, to wrap up a 9-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 victory on the final day of the event at Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena.
It was Ma Long’s fourth career title in Qatar where Wang Liqin, Xu Xin (both from China) Croatia’s Zoran Primorac have won three trophies in Doha.
Ma Long, winner in Doha in 2013, 2016 and 2017, has now four victories over Gaoyuan. The Chinese star, 30, picked up the top prize of $33,000.
The Chinese legend now has 27 ITTF World Tour men’s singles titles to his name equalling the record of Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus.
For the losing finalist Gaoyuan, it was his fourth loss in a title clash.
Earlier, in December, he was the runner up at the Grand Finals, on the ITTF World Tour in January he won in Hungary; in February at the ITTF Challenge Series tournament in Portugal he was the runner-up.
In the women’s final, it was another all-Chinese affair as Wang Manyu beat compatriot Liu Shiwen 11-3, 10-12, 12-10, 11-6, 5-11, 11-5 in the final played in front of a big crowd.
Earlier in the day, China’s 20-year-old table tennis player Wang Manyu, the no.4 seed, beat Grand Slam veteran Ding Ning 11-6, 11-1, 11-6, 11-4. It was Wang Manyu’s third successive win over Ding Ning. The Chinese player won $33,000.
From the very first game, Wang gave no chance to her top-ranking counterpart with a 3-0 lead and finally wrapped up the game 11-6. In the second game, she attacked even harder at every opportunity, ending up with a lop-sided 11-1. Ding Ning tried but still failed to catch up in the following games, and finally lost the semifinal to Wang within less than 30 minutes.
In the other semi-final yesterday, Liu Shiwen beat Sun Yingsha 5-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5 to sign for the title clash eventually won by Wang Manyu.
Success yesterday for Wang Manyu means that she collected her fifth ITTF World Tour women’s singles title.
In 2017, Wang Manyu won in Austria in addition to last year on home soil in China, as well as in Hungary and Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, for Liu Shiwen it was her 28th ITTF World Tour women’s singles final and the 15th time she ended up as the runner-up.
The five-day tournament was staged for 24th time by the Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA).
Khalil Al Mohannadi, President of QTTA, and First Vice-President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and the Arab Table Tennis Federation, said: “The dominance of Chinese players is unquestionable. Whether it is the men’s singles final or the women’s singles final or any other title clash, Chinese players are always to the fore.”
He added: “China have outstanding players and it almost feels natural for us to see them dominate world events. I take this opportunity to thank ITTF, the Local Organising Committee and my team for doing a great job this week.”
