China Nips Chinese Taipei to Retain World Women's Title

Defending world champion China won their 13th title when they edged Chinese Taipei 3-1 to retain the women's title in the 45th World Team Table Tennis Championships at the Putra Stadium in Kuala Lumpur Friday night.

The Chinese women, led by their top paddler Wang Nan, won the championship despite a strong challenge from Chinese Taipei.

Chinese paddlers Wang Nan, Li Ju and Zhang Yining only took about 110 minutes to end Chinese Taipei's challenge in the competition in Kuala Lumpur.

The Chinese women, who defeated Chinese Taipei 3-0 in the preliminary round group's match, dropped one game today when Zhang Yining lost to Xu Jing in the third rubber.

"They are a strong team and gave us a good fight. But, our women quickly found their rhythm.

"Wang Nan played very well today but Zhang Yining was not at her best. She made a lot of errors especially in the smashes, which gave easy points to Xu Jing," said China's deputy head coach Lu Yuansheng.

World number two Li Ju had no trouble delivering China's opening point after an easy 21-10, 21-11 victory over Tsui Hsui-Li, which lasted about 20 minutes.

The second single match between Wang Nan and Chen Jing, who ranked fifth in the world, which was expected to be an interesting affair however turned to be a one-sided game when the off-form Chen could not match Wang Nan's fast game.

Wang Nan, who collected 675 points to win the inaugural "Dawei Most Valuable Player" award and 3,000 US dollars in the world championship, won the match 21-7, 21-11 to wrap China's victory.

(Xinhua)

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