by Ian Marshall, Editor

All Chinese affairs, the final of the men’s singles event, alongside the penultimate round and title deciding contest in the women’s singles competition closed the curtain in Doha.

Men’s Singles

…………Ma Long, the no.11 seed, beat Lin Gaoyuan, the no.2 seed, to secure the top step of the podium (9-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9)

…………Successful in 2013, 2016 and 2017, Ma Long has now won the Qatar title four times; he moves ahead of colleagues Wang Liqin and Xu Xin in addition to Zoran Primorac, each prevailed on three occasions

…………Furthermore, Ma Long has now won 27 ITTF World Tour men’s singles titles; he equals the record of Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus
…………In the four most recent international tournaments in which he has competed, Lin Gaoyuan has always reached the final. Earlier, in December, he was the runner up at the Grand Finals, on the ITTF World Tour in January he won in Hungary; in February at the ITTF Challenge Series tournament in Portugal he was the runner up

Women’s Singles

…………Ding Ning suffered one of the biggest defeats of her international career; at the semi-final stage, the top seed, she was soundly beaten by Wang Manyu, the no.4 seed (11-6, 11-1, 11-6, 11-4)

…………It was the third time that Ding Ning and Wang Manyu had met on the international stage, a third win for Wang Manyu; last year she beat Ding Ning in both China and in Austria

…………Liu Shiwen fell one step short in her bid the retain the title; after recording a semi-final win in opposition to Sun Yingsha (5-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5), she was beaten by Wang Manyu (11-3, 10-12, 12-10, 11-6, 5-11, 11-5)

………… Success for Wang Manyu means that she collects her fifth ITTF World Tour women’s singles title; in 2017 she won in Austria in addition to last year on home soil in China, as well as in Hungary and Hong Kong. Meanwhile, for Liu Shiwen it was her 28th ITTF World Tour women’s singles final, the 15th time the runner up