China's Fan, Sun claim WTT Cup Finals titles

SINGAPORE - Chinese paddlers Fan Zhendong and Sun Yingsha emerged as winners in the men's and women's singles respectively at the newly-founded World Table Tennis (WTT) Cup Finals here on Tuesday.

Top-ranked Fan dispatched Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan 4-1 in the last match of the season-ending tournament inaugurated by the WTT this year.

Fan heated up quickly into the finale, winning the first game 11-8 and establishing a 7-2 lead in the second game, but world No. 1 saw his advantage vanish before losing the game 11-9.

Leading 9-8 in the third game, Fan called a timeout before retaking his superior position with an 11-9 win.

Harimoto let out his trademark roar for every point throughout the match, but found it a daunting task to stop Fan from rolling. The new World Table Tennis Championships title holder met little resistance thereafter, pocketing the next two games 11-7, 11-5 for his second title in two weeks.

Fan's compatriot Wang Chuqin and Brazilian ace Hugo Calderano ranked third after losing the semifinals on Monday.

After falling in the finals of the Olympic Games and World Championships to teammates Chen Meng and Wang Manyu respectively earlier this year, Sun managed to claim a major title in career by holding off Wang Yidi's comeback and winning 4-2 in an all-Chinese final.

Sun appeared well on her way to becoming the champion by winning the first three games 11-3, 17-15, 11-6, but Wang made the match not a straightforward affair from there, pulling two games back 11-7 and 11-6. Sun held her nerve and sealed the deal by taking away the sixth game 11-8.

Chen and Japan's Hina Hayata placed third in the women's category.