World doubles table tennis champions crowned in Durban

Chen Meng and Wang Yidi won the women’s doubles title at the 2023 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships in Durban on Saturday.

The sixth seeds beat Jeon Jihee and Shin Yubin, posting an impressive 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 1210) to take gold.

Jeon and Shin entered the final riding a huge wave of momentum after taking down top seeds Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu on Friday.

On Saturday, while they sought ways to unbalance their opponents. Chen and Wang danced around with poise.

“The good thing about this match is that we encourage each other on the court.

“Sometimes one of us appeared a little down when mistakes were made, and the other was able to overcome this with them,” Chen said.

The Chinese outfit were relentless in their attacks and unsettled Jeon and Shin, who scrambled to stay toe-to-toe in the open rallies, but the Koreans couldn’t muster the required firepower and the points flowed against them.

Wang and Chen took the crown in three straight games for an emotional victory.

The win marked the first major title for the pairing.

“I am very excited now, and it is only the second time Chen Meng and I play together, and now we have won the women’s doubles,” Wang Yidi said.

“Maybe the most important thing for both of us in the whole match was to calm down and fight against the opponent.”

The Iran Cup men’s doubles trophy went to Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin after the Chinese pair overcame a slow start to chalk up three games against Korea Republic counterparts Jang Woojin and Lim Jonghoon (13-11, 11-6, 11-5).

Top seeds Fan and Wang looked out of sync early on in the final as Jang and Lim raced into a 3-7 lead in game one.

Jang and Lim narrowly missed out on the top step of the podium at the 2021 World Championships Finals in Houston and were determined to put that right in Durban.

However, they would take a serious hit to their confidence as Fan and Wang produced a magnificent comeback to grab the early initiative.

Jang and Lim did their best to try to put the opening game disappointment behind them, but they never recovered.

Driven by their desire to bring the men’s doubles trophy back to China, Fan and Wang ruthlessly stepped up in games two and three, showing no mercy as they closed out a commanding 3-0 victory. —