China's Sun, Chen to meet in women's final at WTT Cup Finals

China’s Sun Yingsha plays a shot against Japan's Miyu Nagasaki during the women's table tennis final match at the ITTF World Team Championships Finals in Chengdu on October 8, 2022. (Photo by AFP) / China OUT

XINXIANG, China, Oct. 29 (Xinhua): Top two paddlers Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng reached the women's final, while Wang Chuqin edged compatriot and world No. 2 Ma Long in the men's semifinals at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Cup Finals here on Saturday.

World No. 1 Sun claimed an 11-6, 11-4, 4-11, 14-12, 11-6 victory over her compatriot and world No. 4 Wang Yidi. Wang tried to cause problems for her familiar opponent with short and efficient shots, while the top seed pressed her advantages on the backhand to restrain Wang's strike back throughout the match.

"Both of us went all out tonight. I played more smoothly after winning the fourth game. The passionate fans gave me lots of support, and I will spare no effort to earn every point in the final," said Sun.

Olympic champion Chen Meng, who had rallied past compatriot Chen Xingtong in the quarterfinals, overpowered world No. 3 Wang Manyu 11-9, 11-3, 11-9, 11-13, 11-6.

Ma Long opened his encounter against 22-year-old Wang Chuqin in a lackluster fashion, losing three games in a row 11-7, 11-5, 11-5. The 34-year-old Grand Slam winner managed to pull three games back with 11-9, 11-7, 13-11, but failed to turn the table during the decider losing 11-8, suffering another loss to Wang only eight days after the WTT Champions Macao quarterfinals.

German paddler Dimitrij Ovtcharov, who had defeated world No. 1 Fan Zhendong in the quarterfinals, suffered a big blow from Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto in straight games 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 and 11-7.

Both men's and women's finals will take place on Sunday. - Xinhua