 |
Wang Nan Wins Women's Singles Gold
Defending champion Wang Nan beat fellow Chinese Lin Ling 3-1 in the women's singles final of the World Table Tennis Championships on Saturday.
The world top-ranked Wang, with consistency as one of her assets, didn't lose her composure after conceding the first set 14- 21. She snatched the following three sets 21-12, 21-12, 21-19.
Chinese Zhang Yining shared third place with Kim Yun Mi from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Lin Ling, who joined the Chinese women's singles squad of seven at the last minute, had a more difficult road to the final than Wang Nan.
While Wang Nan had beaten her less heralded teammates en route to the final, the world 14th-ranked Lin had overcame world number five Chen Jing of Chinese Taipei, South Korean star Kim Moo Kyo and DPR Korean giant-killer Kim.
"I want to thank Lin Ling. She prevented foreign players from coming out of the second half (of the draw). She is an outstanding player," Wang said.
Just before the Chinese team flew to Osaka, Lin took the place of world number four Sun Jin, who lost her singles berth because she had misplaced her bat in a warm-up tournament.
Sun was also fined 5,000 yuan (US$600) for her carelessness even though she later retrieved it.
In This Section
|