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Zhang Yining
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ZHANG YINING shocked Sydney Olympic champion Wang Nan for the first-ever time while China made a clean sweep of titles at the Pro Tour Grand Finals table tennis tournament in Yokohama, Japanon yesterday.
Zhang, who had never beaten Wang before at home and abroad including the final of the 1999 world championships, gained sweet revenge with a 21-10, 19-21, 26-24, 9-21, 21-11 to win the women's singles title.
Earlier in the day, Olympic champions Wang Liqin and Yan Sen, and silver medallists Sun Jin and Yang Ying completed China's clean sweep by winning the doubles crowns.
Wang and Yan edged past South Korea's Kim Taek-soo and Oh Sung-eun 18-21, 17-21, 21-19, 21-14, 22-20 to win the men's title, while Sun and Yang powered past Japan's Akiko Takeda and Mayu Kawagoe 21-13, 21-11, 21-17 to win the women's title.
Wang Liqin made it a double victory for him by beating Liu Guozheng 21-17, 21-14, 21-18 for the men's singles trophy to wind up the four-day competition.
“It feels so great to beat Wang Nan, I defeated her for the first time in my career,”said Zhang, 19, who also eliminated Olympic silver medallist Li Ju in the semifinals.
“I think I gained momentum when I was down in the third game and came back to take it after deuces. But I really didn't win this match, I feel like she just gave it to me.”
“We will start a new Open tournament series. Hopefully I can make a berth in the finals again,” added Zhang, receiving the winner's check for US$26,000.
It was her third title of the 2000 season on the Pro Tour, following her triumphs in Poland and Sweden, and fifth overall. It was also the first finals victory. (SD-Agencies)
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