Other Events | 1 Dec 2013

Sweden: LUNDQVIST and XU Xin clinched Doubles title

YAN An won the Men’s Singles whilst CHEN Meng clinched the Women’s Singles title at the GAC Group 2013 ITTF World Tour Swedish Open in Stockholm. Occupying the second seeded position in the draw YAN An beat Chinese National Team colleague and third seed,

YAN An won the Men’s Singles whilst CHEN Meng clinched the Women’s Singles title at the GAC Group 2013 ITTF World Tour Swedish Open in Stockholm.

Occupying the second seeded position in the draw YAN An beat Chinese National Team colleague and third seed, FAN Zhendong, in six games to arrest the title. In so doing ended the incredible 17 match unbeaten run of his 16 year-old colleague on this year’s ITTF World Tour. Three weeks earlier FAN Zhendong had won in Poland, two weeks previously in Germany. For YAN An it was a breakthrough. It was his first ever ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles title, his only other previous final being earlier this year in Qatar.

Two years earlier crowned World Junior champion in Bahrain, CHEN Meng justified her exalted position in the draw. The top seed, she accounted for colleague LI Xiaodan, the ninth seed, in an all-Chinese.

Defeat for LI Xiaodan who was playing in her first ever ITTF World Tour final, for CHEN Meng it was her fourth final and her fourth win; she has never been the runner up; the previous successes were in Doha in 2012 and in Suzhou in both 2012 and earlier this year.

The host nation’s Jens LUNDQVIST and China’s XU Xin emerged as the winners of the Men’s Doubles title. Occupying the fourth seeded place in the draw, they beat Pär GERELL and YAN An, the third seeds, to clinch gold, succeeding in four games). It was the second time in the history of the ITTF World Tour that pairs combining players from different national associations had played their colleagues in a Men’s Doubles final; the one previous occasion being earlier this year in the northern Chinese city of Changchun when China and Germany had joined forces. On that occasion Timo BOLL and MA Long beat Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and YAN An to secure the title.

The winner earlier in the year in Zagreb, Austria’s Sofia POLCANOVA collected her second career Under 21 Women’s Singles on the ITTF World Tour. In the Eriksdalshallen at the GAC Group 2013 ITTF World Tour Swedish Open, the second seed, she secured the top prize by overcoming Britt EERLAND of the Netherlands, the third seed, in six games. Quentin ROBINOT lost his final encounter in Men’s U21 Event against Taipei’s HUNG Tzu-Hsiang.