by Ian Marshall, Editor

Excellence was the order of the day.

Men’s Singles

…………Xu Xin, the no.2 seed, beat compatriot and qualifier Wang Chuqin (8-11, 20-18, 11-7, 11-7, 5-11, 11-5), followed by success against Ma Long, the no.4 seed (7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8) to claim the top prize.

…………In the counterpart semi-final, Ma Long had ousted the host nation’s Jeoung Youngsik, the no.13 seed (11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9) and winner in 2015 when the tournament was staged in Incheon.

…………Xu Xin extended his status as the most successful player in the history of the tournament since first organised in 2001 in Seoul. He has now won four times; no other player has won more than once. Always in Incheon, previously he won in 2013, 2014 and 2016; as today in 2013 and 2016 he beat Ma Long in the final.

…………A second consecutive success for Xu Xin, having prevailed last month in Japan; overall has won 16 ITTF World Tour men’s singles titles in 27 final appearances.

Women’s Singles

…………After accounting for Wang Manyu, the no.7 seed (11-3, 8-11, 11-3, 12-14, 10-12, 11-9, 11-6), Chen Meng, the no.2 seed, accounted for Ding Ning, the top seed (11-5, 11-6, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9) to secure the title.

…………In the adjacent semi-final, Ding Ning overcame Sun Yingsha, the no.16 seed (8-11, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8).

…………It was one step higher for Chen Meng and her first such success in Korea Republic; last year she had been beaten in the final by colleague Zhu Yuling.

…………Notably it was for Chen Meng her third ITTF World Tour women’s singles title of the year, previously she had won in Hungary and China. Overall it was her 12th such title in 15 final appearances.