Doha - Arab Today
Top seed Ma Long of China beat compatriot Fan Zhendong 11-9, 11-9, 5-11, 13-11, 11-5 to clinch the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Qatar Open men's singles title at the Ali bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena in Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha.
Ma, the current world champion and world number one, raced into a two-game lead before Fan got himself back into contention by taking the third.
The result was Ma’s 14th consecutive win against Ukrainian-born Ovtcharov, who won gold at the inaugural European Games in Baku last year.
The women’s singles crown also went the way of the top seed as China’s Liu Shiwen cruised to a comfortable 4-1 triumph over compatriot and number two seed Ding Ning.
The 24-year-old ensured she finished top of the pile by recording an 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9 win against Ding, who was no match for her team-mate and was forced to settle for second place.
Liu had been in confident form throughout the tournament and reached the final by dispatching another Chinese player in Zhu Yuling, the third seed, in straight games 11-6, 11-3, 11-8, 11-2.
Ding also enjoyed a relatively straightforward path to a meeting with Liu as she beat Hong Kong’s Tie Yana, seeded 14th, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 11-2.
The two Chinese players were involved in a thrilling women’s doubles final before they faced off for singles supremacy as they teamed up to oust Japan's Ai Fukuhara and Mimo Ito 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 4-11, 11-7 Despite the defeat in the singles final, Fan did manage to leave Doha with a Qatar Open title to his name as he partnered Zhang Jike to the doubles crown as they overcame Japanese duo Koki Niwa and Maharu Yoshimura 11-8, 11-9, 11-7.
Source QNA