Table Tennis Championship: China won the World Team Table Tennis title for the 12th consecutive time, defeated Japan 3-0
London. China won its 12th consecutive men’s team title with a 3-0 victory over Japan at the World Table Tennis Championships. The victory came thanks to another brilliant comeback performance from Liang Jingkun. Just a day after coming back from two games down against France’s Alexis Lebrun in the semi-finals, Liang repeated the same feat against Japan’s top player Tomokazu Harimoto.
Liang struggled initially; He lost the opening two games 11–8 and 11–4, as Harimoto dominated the game with his tremendous speed and aggression. But the Chinese player gradually regained his rhythm and turned the match by playing fearlessly and aggressively, winning the next two games 11-9 and 13-11.
After leading 8-3 in the decider, Harimoto looked to be on course for victory, but Liang made a strong comeback. Roaring loudly after every winning shot, Liang scored eight consecutive points and completed the 11-8 victory, setting the stadium into celebration. “From yesterday to today, I feel like I was reborn,” Liang said after the match.
It means a lot to me to bounce back from 2-0 down in two matches at the Team World Championship. I’m proud that I never gave up.” Next, world No. 1 Wang Chuqin defeated Japan’s rising talent Sora Matsushima in four games. After losing the first game, Wang composed himself and won three consecutive games to put China just one point away from the title.
Wang said, “I think Liang’s win gave us all confidence. Even after losing the first game, I remained calm because the team spirit was already there.” Lin Shidong sealed China’s victory by defeating Shunsuke Togami in four games in the third rubber.
The young Chinese player celebrated wildly after scoring the winning point; He jumped onto the table while his teammates came running onto the court. Lin said that even after the semi-final loss against France, the coaches and team officials encouraged him and kept their faith in him in the final as well. China has won every men’s team world title since 2001.
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