Other Events | 2 Dec 2015
China Overcomes Korea to take Double Junior World Team Champion Crowns
Photo: Courtesy ITTF
China defends crown as the 2015 Boys' and Girls' Junior World Team Champions in Vendee, France.
China has retained both its Boys' and Girls' World Team Champion titles at the ITTF 2015 World Junior Table Tennis Championships Team event that took place in Vendée, France today, 2 December 2015.
In both final matches, the Chinese team had to overcome the challenge posed by a highly spirited Korean Team.
The Chinese trio led by 2014 Junior World Champion WANG Manyu, fended off attacks from the Koreans to secure China's fifth consecutive girls' team gold medal with a 3-0 victory.
CHEN Xingtong gave the Chinese team the perfect start, beating Korean defender AN Yeongeun 3-1 (11-9, 11-3, 7-11, 11-1. Top seeded WANG Manyu overcame the Korean team's leading player KIM Jiho 11-6, 11-6, 11-9.
WANG Yidi, who sealed the final victory 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-3) against KANG Dayeon, shared "Of course we are very happy with our team gold. I was both nervous and excited prior to the match as this is my first World Junior Championships participation and first gold medal match."
In the Boys' Team gold medal match, China continued their dominance in the Boys' Team event to take their twelfth gold since the inauguration of the World Junior Championships in 2003. They only dropped the crown once in 2005 to the Japanese team.
After losing the opening game 3-11 to AN Jaehyun, WANG Chuqin came back to take the first point 3-1 (3-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-6) for the Chinese team.
"It was a hard match, especially because I was playing the first match, I feel the pressure to give my team a good start. After losing the first game 3-11, I decided to just let go and play freely." shared the 15-year-old.
Top ranked Chinese player on duty in France, LIU Dingshuo then accounted for CHO Seungmin 3-1 (11-5, 11-9, 7-11, 11-4), before XUE Fei ended matters 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-6) against HWANG Minha.
On the team victory, Head Coach of the Chinese Men's Youth Team, LIU Guozheng shared "Our team did well today to win the gold today. However, even though we won 3-0, it was not easy. We faced the Korean team in the Asian Youth Championships as well, and it wasn't easy either. Hence, prior to the match, our team did a lot of preparations and was mentally prepared."
"For us, it's not just about defending the title, it's more of having the fighting spirit."
With China taking the Boys' and Girls' Team gold, the world's best juniors will be fighting for the remaining 5 titles on offer - Boys' Singles, Girls' Singles, Boys' Doubles, Girls' Doubles and Mixed Doubles.
The 2015 World Junior Table Tennis Championships will continue tomorrow with the individual events running till 6 December 2015.
