by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Consistency, staying close to the table, Chen Meng and Wang Manyu imposed their authority on proceedings from the very first point; intentions were made clear, there was a task to be completed and to be completed in a clinical fashion.

They secured the first game, the success settled nerves; gaining in confidence they won the first six points of the second; attacking play from the Koreans was absorbed, angles created and turned to advantage.

Two games to nil in arrears, the Korean duo mounted a recovery; they captured the third as Chen Meng and Wang Manyu made more errors than in the first two games put together.

Conversely Jeon Jihee and Yang Haeun eradicated the errors of the first two games; however, it was to be only brief respite. In the fourth game, Chen Meng and Wang Manyu established a 5-2 lead; the Korean duo called “Time Out”, they levelled at 6-all but never held the advantage.

Chen Meng and Wang Manyu were not be denied, at 10-6 they held match point; the opportunity was seized.

It was for Jeon Jihee the 13th time they had appeared as a partnership in an ITTF World Tour Women’s Doubles final; it was the sixth time they had experienced defeat.

A first final as a partnership for Chen Meng and Wang Manyu but they were not without experience of the occasion. At the GAC Group 2014 ITTF World Tour Korean Open, Wang Manyu had partnered Chen Ke to success; the pair beating Japan’s Miu Hirano and Mima Ito in the final.

Meanwhile, for Chen Meng, it was her seventh success in eight finals; previously she had won in partnership with Zhu Yuling on four occasions plus once with Liu Shiwen and once with Mu Zi. The only defeat in an ITTF World Tour Women’s Doubles final for Chen Meng was in Austria in 2013 when partnering Zhu Yuling, she was beaten by colleagues Ding Ning and Li Xiaoxia.

Notably it was the 110th time that a Chinese partnership had stood tall on the podium when and ITTF World Tour Women’s Doubles event had concluded.