by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager

At the final hurdle, Xue Fei accounted for Hong Kong’s Ng Pak Nam in three straight games (11-8, 11-9, 11-7) to collect the third such title of his career.

“I feel I played well today. I was strong on the first three attacking strokes, especially after the service but most important was that I put a lot of spin on the ball; that kept him under pressure.” Xue Fei

In 2017 he had won in Germany and in Linz; furthermore it is now three finals, three wins.

Meanwhile, in the Under 21 Women’s Singles event, an all Chinese final witnessed success for Zhang Rui in opposition to Chen Ke; a four games outcome being the verdict (11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-7).

“It’s been a long day and we are both tired, Chen Ke has played one more match than me today so perhaps she was the more tired. In the final my concentration was good and I tried not to think about the score but just play one point at a time.” Zhang Rui

Notably for both players it was their third time in an ITTF World Tour Under 21 Women’s Singles final, for Chen Ke her second this year. She won in Hungary in late January having succeeded last year in Germany alongside Xue Fei.

Similarly for Zhang Rui it was her third final, last year she succeeded in both the Czech Republic and in Sweden.