China and Germany combine to clinch Doubles crown

June 17, 2013
12:00 am
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The highly anticipated international doubles pairings at the GAC Group 2013 ITTF World Tour (Super Series) – China Open in Changchun, China, did not disappoint, with German Timo BOLL and Chinese MA Long winning the Men’s Doubles gold today in ,

The pair, dubbed ‘Longbo’ by the fans, were simply too good for fellow German and Chinese combination Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and YAN An. They won 11-13, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 in front of a loud Changchun crowd to show that table tennis transcends all language and cultural barriers.

The 32-year-old BOLL who won his 7th World Tour Doubles crown 4 years after his last stated after the match: “It was a lot of fun to play with MA Long. It was helpful to chat and learn about his style of play and thoughts about table tennis. I hope to play with him again soon as our styles matches perfectly – I play softer with more spin and placement. Ma long is the more powerful one. We understood each other well and we were very happy with the outcome.“

The Doubles gold was not enough for World Number 2 MA Long, as he stepped back on the court within 30 minutes of his Doubles triumph to beat local town favorite WANG Hao 11-8, 11-8, 11-2, 11-8, to clinch the Men’s Singles title, which is MA Long’s 15th World Tour gold.

MA, who lost to WANG in the Semi Finals at the last 3 World Championships (2009, 2011, 2013), said about his win: “I am happy with my win in my home country. This is my first main competition after the World Table Tennis Championships last month in Paris, but I feel that I played the key points well, which was vital to my victory. The victory is even more sweet after winning the doubles with my friend Timo BOLL. After playing so many matches the last 3 days, I am now looking forward to having a rest tomorrow.”

World and Olympic Champion LI Xiaoxia (CHN) continued her impressive form in the Women’s Singles, defeating veteran GUO Yan (CHN) who announced that this may be her last international event as a player. The 25 year old won the her 9th World Tour Women’s title 11-8, 11-9, 11-4, 4-11, 11-5.

The pair GUO Yue & LIU Shiwen, took little time thrashing FENG Yalan/GUO Yan 11-6,11-5,13-11 to claim the women’s doubles crown.

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