Sun Yingsha (up) of China competes in the table tennis women's singles final against Japan's Hina Hayata at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Oct. 1, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)
Chinese paddler Sun Yingsha bounced back from her doubles defeat to take the women's singles title, while Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin clinched the men's doubles gold.
HANGZHOU, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese paddler Sun Yingsha beat Japan's Hina Hayata to take her first women's singles Asiad title at the Hangzhou Games, while her compatriots Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin won the men's doubles gold medal on Sunday.
Sun who has won all 10 of her previous international matches against Hayata, did so again at the Asiad, emerging victorious 4-1 (11-5, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8, 11-7).
"I think we all played very well today, I have played against Hayata many times, I felt that she made great progress," Sun said.
"I wanted to beat Sun in the women's team match, and I longed for a victory today, but I didn't succeed, so I had a long way to catch up, and I will train and play harder," said Hayata, who edged China's Wang Yidi 4-3 (11-4, 3-11, 11-8, 7-11, 10-12, 15-13, 12-10) in the semifinals.
Fan Zhendong (R)/Wang Chuqin of China compete in the men's doubles final. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
Fan and Wang eased past South Korea's Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon 4-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-7, 11-3) for the title.
"It means a lot to get my first gold medal in the men's doubles on National Day, and this medal feels like a gift for my country," said Fan, who led China to the men's team gold medal on Tuesday.
"I am very happy to take the gold medal, we cooperated better after the world championships, and we trusted each other more this time," Wang said. ■
