Defending champion China won the women’s team title for the 20th time after beating Japan 3-0 in the final of the 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships here on Sunday.
As the first paddler in action for China, Liu Shiwen beat Japanese Ai Fukuhara easily 11-5, 11-6 and 11-8, giving a perfect start for her team.
Li Xiaoxia won the second rubber for China after a tough battle against Kasumi Ishikawa. After losing the first two sets 6-11 and 7-11, Li began to demonstrate her dominance on the court from 8-all of the third set and left no chance to Ishikawa by winning the last three sets 11-9, 11-3 and 11-5.
Reigning world champion Ding Ning also had a tough task against Japanese 15-year-old Mima Ito. After losing the first set 8-11, Ding displayed her all-round skills in defence and attack to dominate the rest of the match, winning three sets in a row to wrap up the final 11-7, 11-8 and 11-1.
“Because Ding has been playing very stable, I decided to let her to play the third rubber,” said Kong Linghui, head coach of the Chinese women’s team.
China won the title without surrendering a single match during the last eight days.
The men's team also blanked their Japanese opponents 3-0 to ensure a clean sweep.
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