MONTREUX, Switzerland, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Both Darko Jorgic of Slovenia and Han Ying of Germany successfully defended their titles at the 2023 CCB Europe Top 16 table-tennis Cup here on Sunday.
Jorgic, 24, beat Qiu Dang of Germany 4-2 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11, 7-11, 5-11, 11-7) in the men's singles final, while in the women's counterpart, Han Ying defeated Sofia Polcanova of Austria 4-1 (11-5, 10-12, 11-3, 11-9, 11-5).
Leading by 3-0 in the final, Jorgic, who upset Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto in the men's singles quarter-finals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, lost his tempo to let Qiu come back by 3-2.
But he picked up his powerful forehand strikes in the sixth set and nailed down the victory in style. He jumped onto the table to celebrate his victory after the final winner of the match.
Han, who will turn 40 in April, had a much easier journey to the top of the podium as she beat Shao Jieni of Portugal 4-0 in the semi-finals.
"It was not as easy as it looks like," Han said. "I'm taking a more professional and efficient training, dieting and resting agenda now. I think that's the reason I can have this achievement at this age." ■
