One Olympic champ won and another lost, but China showed itself as the sport’s powerhouse, winning four of five titles in the first ITTF World Tour Platinum tournament, in Doha (QAT).
Rio winner Long Ma came through with a victory in the men’s Singles division, edging countryman Gaoyuan Lin, 4-2 in the final.
Another Olympic gold medalist, Ning Ding, was ousted in the semifinals by Manyu Wang, who went on to win the final against another Chinese player, Shiwen Lu, 4-2.
The women’s Doubles was another all-China final, with Yingsha Sun and Wang overcoming Ding and Yidi Wang, 3-2. Xin Xu and Liu won the Mixed Doubles; the only “non-Chinese” winner was the Hong Kong duo of Kwan Kit Ho and Chun Ting Wong in the men’s Doubles.
Summaries:
ITTF World Tour/Qatar Open
Doha (QAT) ~ 28-31 March 2019
(Full results here)
Men’s Singles: 1. Long Ma (CHN); 2. Gaoyuan Lin (CHN); 3. Mattias Falck (SWE) and Xin Xu (CHN). Semis: Long d. Xu, 4-2; Lin d. Falck, 4-3. Final: Ma d. Lin, 4-2.
Men’s Doubles: 1. Kwan Kit Ho/Chun Ting Wong (HKG); 2. Timo Boll/Patrick Franziska (GER); 3. Youngsik Jeoung/Sangsu Lee (KOR) and Jakub Dyjas (POL)/Cedric Nuytinck (BEL). Semis: Ho/Wong d. Jeoung/Lee, 3-2; Boll/Franziska/Dyjas/Nuytinck, 3-0. Final: Ho/Wong d. Boll/Franziska, 3-1.
Women’s Singles: 1. Manyu Wang (CHN); 2. Shiwen Liu (CHN); 3. Ning Ding (CHN) and Yingsha Sun (CHN). Semis: M. Wang d. Ding, 4-0; Liu d. Sun, 4-3. Final: Wang d. Liu, 4-2.
Women’s Doubles: 1. Yingsha Sun/Manyu Wang (CHN); 2. Ning Ding/Yidi Wang (CHN); 3. Hina Hayata/Mima Ito (JPN) and Honoka Hashimoto/Hitomi Sato (JPN). Semis: Sun/Wang d. Hashimoto/Sato, 3-2; Ding/Wang d. Hayata/Ito, 3-0. Final: Sun/Wang d/ Ding/Wang, 3-2.
Mixed Doubles: 1. Xin Xu/Shiwen Liu (CHN); 2. Masataka Morizono/Mima Ito (JPN); 3. Yun-Ju Lin/I-Ching Cheng (TPE) and Kwan Kit Ho/Ho Ching Lee (HKG). Semis: Xu/Liu d. Ho/Lee, 3-0; Morizono/Ito d. Lin/Cheng, 3-2. Final: Xu/Lin d. Morizono/Ito, 3-0.
