Sport
World table tennis champions reign Chinese City Games

WUHAN (Xinhua): Chinese nationals, led by world champions Guo Yue and Ma Long, have dominated the under-20 table tennis tournament at the 6th Chinese City Games, which concluded here on Saturday.

All gold medals have been pocketed by team members of the star- packed Chinese national squad, or teams and pairs including national paddlers.

Ma Long and Ding Ning, both natives of northern Liaoning province, collected the men's and women's singles titles, adding to a men's team silver for the Chengdu team, while Guo Yue-led Shenyang won the women's doubles and mixed doubles golds, plus silvers from women's doubles and women's team events.

The other two championships for the team events went to hosts Wuhan in the men's and Guangzhou, led by national teenage sensations Liu Shiwen and Mu Zi, on the women's part.

The only four exceptions in the seven events' top three finishes are the men's team bronze medalists of northern Baoding, men's singles silver Wu Hao of eastern Zibo, men's doubles third place finishers Su Sheng/Wu Fan of Xiamen and women's doubles silver winners Wen Jia/Yang Yang of shenyang.

Wu Hao, who came out an expected finalist in the men's singles after narrowly beating Zhang Jike 4-2 on Friday, lost his final against world No. 6 Ma Long.

Southwest Chinese city Chengdu and China's sports powerhouse Shenyang came out the jointly biggest winners of the table tennis competitions, clinching two golds each adding to two silver medals for Shenyanga and a silver for Chengdu.

Guo Yue, the reigning world champion who stunned the "Grand Slam" winner Zhang Yining and fellow national Li Xiaoxia in Zagreb worlds last May, emerged as the relatively disappointing one in the U20 tourney.

The 19-year-old failed to clinch a medal in the women's singles event and only finished the fourth after losing 4-1 to eventual champion Ding Ning in the semifinals and being down 1-3 in the 3rd place match.

She restored her glory as the most promising one to lead world' s table tennis into the new generation by winning the women's doubles event on Saturday morning after claiming an easy win in the all-Shenyang final.

Earlier in the mixed doubles event, the world No. 2 romped to the triumph on Wednesday after missing the women's team title on Tuesday.

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