CHENGDU – China won their fifth consecutive women’s team title after sweeping past Japan 3-0 at the World Team Table Tennis Championships on Saturday.
It was a record-extending 22nd victory for the Chinese women in the competition, while Japan’s 51-year wait to reclaim the Corbillon Cup goes on.
Germany and Chinese Taipei finished third in the team event in Chengdu.
In the two sides’ fourth straight head-to-head world championship final dating back to 2014, China enjoyed a wire-to-wire victory.
Olympic champion Chen Meng put the hosts ahead with an 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 win over Miyuu Kihara.
Reigning world champion Wang Manyu doubled her team’s lead after getting past Japanese ace Mima Ito 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5.
World No. 1 Sun Yingsha then closed out China’s title defence with an 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 victory over Miyu Nagasaki.
Boasting a final line-up comprising the top three players in the world, the top-seeded Chinese were always the favourites here and they put on a dominant display in front of their home fans inside the Chengdu High-Tech Zone Sports Centre.
“I am very happy about winning the trophy today here in China. I would like to say ‘thank you’ to all my fans and my teammates,” Sun said.
“I would like to thank all of you for your long-term support to table tennis in China, you are our source of inspiration. We are going to celebrate with the national flag of China!”
The Chinese can make it a double celebration on Sunday in the men’s final, which will see the top seeds and defending champions take on Germany.
This will be China’s 14th consecutive appearance in the showpiece match. They have claimed the title a record 21 times, while the Germans, who reached the final at the last edition in 2018, have yet to lift the trophy. XINHUA
