New Zealand
New Zealand secured HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series gold on a dramatic final day...
Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin of China won the Singapore Smash men’s doubles title on Friday (18 March), beating Japanese pair Yukiya Uda and Shunsuke Togami 3-1 (12-10, 12-10, 12-14, 11-7) at the OCBC Arena.
Wang & Fan in Action
Said Wang Chuqin: “Today’s match was a really tough one, we knew our opponents are really strong. Winning this match has really boosted our confidence as a doubles pair. At the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston last year, we didn’t achieve our goal of winning the men’s doubles title, so we’re very happy to have achieved it this time.”
Fan & Wang celebrating the point
His partner Fan Zhendong added: “Winning this title builds a good base for us to do better in the future. There is still space for improvement and many areas to be worked on. We thank Uda and Togami – they are strong players and tough fighters, and we thank them for a great match.”
Uda, who will face Fan Zhendong in the men’s singles semi-final on Saturday (19 March), said: “We actually had game points in the first three games, but our opponents were just more stable and they didn’t attack unnecessarily. We were a bit more frantic; the opponents could block our attacks well and their tabletop skills were also more stable. Although I lost the doubles match today, tomorrow my opponent is still the same — Fan Zhendong. I'm actually quite excited to see how much my game can work against him and I'm looking forward to the match tomorrow.”
Yukiya Uda and Shunsuke Togami in action
World champion Wang Manyu beat top-ranked Sun Yingsha 4-3 (7-11, 12-10, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 12-14, 11-8) while world No. 2 Chen Meng won 4-3 (11-3, 13-11, 9-11, 11-4, 10-12, 8-11, 11-8) win over Wang Yidi.