by Simon Daish

Qualifier Claims Top Spot

Lin Gaoyuan and Yan An went head-to-head in an exciting Men’s Singles encounter as both Chinese competitors demonstrated their attacking might in the final.

While Yan An entered the tie as the seventh seeded player it was the unseeded qualifier Lin Gaoyuan who held the slight edge throughout the course of the match and deservedly went on to claim the victory across five games (12-10, 11-9, 12-10, 10-12, 11-7).

Success means that Lin Gaoyuan has won his first Men’s Singles gold medal on the ITTF World Tour, and leaves Austria with pride:

“I’m very happy to be able win my first World Tour title. I’m very satisfied with my performance during this period of time, claiming another title after the Asian Cup with such a tight schedule… I think I played well on court in the final. I have played in so many World Tour events, and now finally with a title, it’s a dream come true for me”, Lin Gaoyuan.

Powerful Display Hands Seeded Player First Title

Another player who has managed to obtain her first ITTF World Tour trophy is Wang Manyu, who negotiated her concluding Women’s Singles fixture against Gu Yuting with a stylish performance.

Sixth seed Wang Manyu did well not to drop a game in the final with three of the four games being decided by a two point margin (11-9, 12-10, 11-2, 11-9) but in the end Gu Yuting proved unable to cause any real trouble for the eventual champion.

“Even though I won 4-0, three of the games were won by a narrow two-points difference, so it wasn’t as easy as the overall 4-0 seems. It’s my first World Tour title, with a first there will be a second, a third and so on. I hope this will be a good start for me”, Wang Manyu.

China And Japan Enjoy Doubles Success

Prior to the two singles finals there were two doubles finals to be played to completion.

The defending Women’s Doubles champions were left disappointed in the final as Honoka Hashimoto and Hitomi Sato lost out to the Chinese partnership of Chen Xingtong and Sun Yingsha in a thrilling five games battle (4-11, 11-7, 7-11, 12-10, 11-4).

Defeat for Japan in the Women’s Doubles final but over in the Men’s Doubles contest it was very much the opposite story with Jin Ueda and Koki Niwa prevailing over German opponents Ruwen Filus and Ricardo Walther (11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8) to earn their first Men’s Doubles trophy as a pairing.