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South Korea Stuns China: Lim and Shin Claim WTT Mixed Doubles Title

In a major upset, South Korea's Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin have won the mixed doubles title at the WTT Finals. They defeated China's Olympic champion pair in straight games. The Chinese team's performance was likely impacted by Sun Yingsha's ankle injury, which forced her to withdraw from her women's singles semifinal earlier. The season-ending tournament concludes on Sunday with the men's and women's singles finals.

Key Points: Lim Jong-hoon Shin Yu-bin Win WTT Finals Mixed Doubles

  • South Korean duo wins title in straight games against reigning world champions
  • Sun Yingsha hampered by ankle injury from earlier singles match
  • Wang Manyu advances to women's singles final with victory over Chen Yi
  • Lin Shidong sets up men's singles semifinal against Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto
3 min read

South Korea's Lim/Shin win mixed doubles title at WTT Finals

South Korea's Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin defeat Chinese Olympic champions Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha in straight games to win the WTT Finals mixed doubles title.

"I wanted to compete in the mixed doubles final. Though the result was not satisfactory, we did go all out. - Sun Yingsha"

Hong Kong, Dec 13

South Korea's Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin cruised past China's Olympic champions Wang Chuqin and Sung Yingsha in straight games in the mixed doubles final at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Finals on Saturday. With Sun having suffered an injury in the women's singles competition, the reigning mixed doubles world champions found it difficult to keep up with their opponents' pace.

After an 11-9 loss in the opening game, Wang and Sun took four consecutive points to pull back to 9-8 in the second, but the South Korean duo regrouped to win 11-8. The second seeds continued their good form, prevailing 11-6 in the third game to secure their title.

Earlier in the day, an ankle injury had forced Sun to pull out of her women's singles semifinal against compatriot Kuai Man.

Kuai clinched a 12-10 victory in the third game for a 2-1 lead, before Sun called a medical timeout to deal with her ankle pain. After returning to action, the world No. 1 levelled the score with an 11-7 win in the fourth game, reports Xinhua.

However, Sun's ankle continued to hamper her. After losing the fifth game 11-3, she withdrew from the contest, sending Kuai into the title showdown.

"After going through many matches, I had already felt the lack of supporting strength in my feet in the first game, and the pain increased in the third," Sun explained.

"I hoped to deal with it well and continue to play. Despite winning the fourth game, I found it hard to move in the fifth, especially on the forehand.

"I wanted to compete in the mixed doubles final. Though the result was not satisfactory, we did go all out," she added.

In another all-Chinese affair in the women's singles, second seed Wang Manyu sailed past Chen Yi 11-9, 11-3, 12-10, 11-8.

"As we are quite familiar with each other, this match was more about adjustments on the court," Wang said after her win. "I was patient in the match. Whether leading or trailing, I could deal with it and tried to make adjustments to score points."

Recovering from his mixed doubles semifinal defeat along with Kuai, Lin Shidong triumphed 4-0 in an all-Chinese men's singles quarterfinal against Xiang Peng. Second-seeded Lin set up a semifinal clash with Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto, who escaped with a win over France's Felix Lebrun in a seven-game thriller.

"I played Harimoto not long ago. Looking at our head-to-head record, I'm not the favourite," Lin noted. "I hope to go into the next match with humility and show everything I'm capable of. I'll give my best to see how I can learn from him."

The other men's semifinal pits Wang Chuqin against Sweden's Truls Moregard.

As the season-ending tournament, the WTT Finals will conclude on Sunday, with the men's and women's singles titles up for grabs.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

P
Priyanka N
Hats off to Lim and Shin! They played with such speed and precision. The Chinese pair are Olympic champions, so this is a huge upset. Shows the depth in table tennis now. It's not just China dominating everything anymore, which is good for the sport.
R
Rohit P
Feel really bad for Sun Yingsha. She's a warrior for even trying to play the mixed doubles final after that ankle injury. You could see her movement was restricted. Safety should come first, but the dedication of these athletes is next level. Wishing her a speedy recovery.
A
Aman W
Interesting to see the Chinese players talking about humility and learning from opponents like Lin Shidong said about Harimoto. Sometimes their dominance makes them seem invincible, but comments like these show they are human too. Respect for that attitude.
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Sarah B
As a table tennis fan, this is the kind of tournament we love! Upsets, injuries, drama, and new faces winning. The Korean duo's victory is the highlight. Makes me wonder, where are our Indian paddlers at this level? We need to invest more in sports like these.
K
Karthik V
The scheduling of these tournaments is brutal. Playing multiple matches in a day, especially after an injury in the semis... it's too much. The organizers need to look at player welfare. Sun shouldn't have been put in a position where she felt she *had* to play the final injured.

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