Reigning World & Olympic Champion DING Ning (CHN) has proved that she’s still a force to be reckoned with winning her third ITTF World Cup title on her third attempt at the Uncle Pop 2018 ITTF Women’s World Cup today 30 September 2018 in Chengdu China.
DING whose world ranking fell due to inactivity in 2017 was unstoppable in Chengdu storming her way into the final to face compatriot and defending Champion ZHU Yuling dropping only one game en route to the Final.
In a rematch of the 2017 World Championships Final the Chinese duo took on each other in a fast and furious final showdown that thrilled the local crowd in the Sichuan Province Gymnasium. Experience prevailed as DING was able to take overall control of the rhythm in the match and critical moments to seal a 4-0 (11-9 11-8 12-10 11-8) victory. With the victory on hand DING’s world ranking is due to rise to number two in the world in October 2018.
Elated with her hard-earned victory DING shared after the ceremony “I’m very happy with my victory and I think I’m really fortunate to be able to win the title on all three occasions I played. It’s indeed something to be excited about. I think this is definitely one of my best matches this year I have been having ups and downs over the past few months but today I played really well and I see this as a new starting point.”
“Today even though I was able to win 4-0 it’s definitely not an easy match especially towards the latter of the match both of us played at a very high level. I was able to stay calm and implement my strategies firmly ” added DING. “I also really want to thank my fans who have been cheering and supporting me!”
Chinese Taipei’s CHENG I-Ching added another World Cup medal to her medal collection taking Bronze in Chengdu with a convincing 4-1 (11-8 11-7 12-10 13-15 11-8) win over Japan’s Kasumi ISHIKAWA. This will be CHENG’s third consecutive medal after claiming Silver in 2016 and Bronze in 2017.
With the conclusion of the Uncle Pop 2018 ITTF Women’s World Cup all attention will turn to the Liebherr 2018 ITTF Men’s World Cup to be held in Paris (FRA) from 19-21 October 2018 where 20 of the world’s best male table tennis stars will battle it out for the Men’s World Cup title.
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