By Neha Aggarwal
With this they win the Women’s Doubles title for China for the 16th time at the Asian Championships since the inception of the championship in 1972 in Beijing, organized by the Asian Table Tennis Union.
It was also the eighth time an all Chinese finals.
Chen Meng and Zhu Yuling have some rich history with the Asian Championships, they won the women’s doubles in 2013 in Busan beating Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen in the final. However, in the next edition, in the 2015 Asian Championships held in Pattaya, they lost in the semi-finals to Kim Hye Song and Ri Mi Gyong of DPR Korea.
In 2017, the home soil certainly made a difference enroute the finals, but in an all Chinese affair, it was the higher skill set of Zhu Yuling and Chen Meng that made them a class apart.
Chen Meng and Zhu Yuling beat Chen Ke and Wang Manyu in four games (11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9).
Chen Meng and Zhu Yuling started the match well on a dominant note which was evident by the angles and the speeds at which they played as compared to their opponents. Winning the first game 11-8, they gathered a lot of crown support as well.
But Chen Ke and Wang Manyu responded immediately winning the second game 11-6 to level the match to 1-1.
Tension was building up at the Wuxi Sports Center Gym as both pairs displayed high table tennis skills as they moved around the table in a rhythematic fashion without appearing to be running around in a maze.
Chen Meng and Zhu Yuling won the third game 11-7 with some brilliant receiving at sharp edges. They continued their winning streak in the fourth game, with a 6-3 lead when Chen Ke and Wang Manyu took time out.
But their efforts went in vain as Chen Meng and Zhu Yuling dominated throughout winning the fourth game 11-9.
A “chooo” from Chen Meng and then a hi-five with Zhu Yuling brought smiles to their faces, explaining the “pressure” they might have had from the horrifying loss in the singles event against Miu Hirano.
