China coach Ma Lin lauded his players' efforts in defending women's team title at the table tennis world championships through a tough 3-2 comeback win and labelled the campaign as "perfect".
BUSAN, South Korea, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Ma Lin, head coach of China's women's table tennis team, has defined his side's campaign in Busan a "perfect" one.
China rallied past Japan 3-2 to claim its sixth consecutive women's title at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals on Saturday. It was also a record-extending 23rd time that China has lifted the coveted Corbillon Cup in history.
"It's a perfect campaign for us," Ma told a press conference held early Sunday. "We have defended the title while discovering some problems at a right time for us to make improvements ahead of the Paris Olympic Games."
With China falling 1-2 behind, Sun Yingsha kept her team's hopes of staying in the title showdown alive with her second win of the night, before Chen Meng made amends for her defeat earlier in the final with a 3-1 win against Japanese prodigy Miwa Harimoto.
"I think many years later, these five players and I will be still reminiscent of such a thrilling matchup," an emotional Ma said.
Despite its perfect winning record in eight matches in Busan, China faced daunting tasks at both ends of the tournament, with its first group match against India also dragged into the deciding set.
"Our players stand firm against the pressure and defend the glory of China's women's table tennis team," said Ma.
"This is my first time winning the World Championships title as the head coach. As a Chinese saying goes, 'the first step is always the hardest.' My first team worlds as the head coach is quite a thrilling one," Ma admitted.
Sun said the final was "very intense and exciting, and all six players from both sides have indeed played at the best level."
"We expected it to be a very tough match. Japan has shown their prowess as a strong team, and we can feel the threat," said Chen.
"Their level is almost at where we are right now, and their young players also have some really advanced techniques of play," she added.
Chen expressed her gratitude to her teammates for "offering the chance to her."
"The match just reflected the charm of sports, as everyone on the court did her best to help the team," she noted. "After losing the first game in the decisive matchup, I just thought that I had to spare no efforts to go through it."
For Chen, the Busan event will be the most memorable one except for the Olympic Games.
"This is the most difficult one for us in so many table tennis team worlds," she said. ■
