China claim women's singles and men's doubles crowns

China clinched their fourth and fifth of seven guaranteed gold medals at the World table tennis championships on Saturday when Wang Nan took the women's singles title and Wang Liqin and Yan Sen claimed the men's doubles crown.

Top-ranked Wang, an Olympic singles champion, got off to a shaky start against 14th-ranked compatriot Lin Ling, dropping the first game before finding her rhythm.

From then on, she looked unstoppable. Keeping Lin on the defensive with a mixture of power and precision, she won the match 14-21, 21-12, 21-12, 21-19.

World number one Wang Liqin and 30th-ranked Yan Sen demolished compatriots Kong Linghui and Liu Guoliang 21-11, 21-12, 21-18 to seize the men's double gold medal.

The pairs had met before in the finals of both the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics, with each winning once.

The finals underlined China's overwhelming dominance of the sport.

With all non-Chinese players eliminated from the championships, China are poised for a clean sweep of this year's titles. They have already claimed the men's and women's team crowns and the mixed doubles gold medal.

"Generally speaking, the overall strength of the Chinese team is higher than that of others," Wang said. "The system is to live together, to eat together. It's very unified.

"Actually, we devote more time to table tennis than foreign players, so it's a fair reward for the Chinese team."

WANG TO FACE KONG

In the men's singles semifinals, China's Wang Liqin showed the merciless form that has made him the world's top paddler as he outclassed Taiwan's Chiang Peng-Lung to set up an all-Chinese final on Sunday.

Fourth-ranked Chiang, who fell foul of Wang's cool-headed precision in the first game, mounted an impressive comeback in the second and was leading by six points when Wang switched into kill mode.

The Sydney Olympic men's doubles gold medallist made lethal shot after lethal shot, defending six match points before seizing the game. He went on to win 21-13, 24-22, 21-14.

Asked whether China's dominance could affect global interest in the sport, Wang said: "Of course Chinese players try their hardest. For the audience, it's not about nationality, it's about the game."

China's number two Kong Linghui edged out third-ranked compatriot Ma Lin, the men's singles champion in last year's World Cup.

Kong, known as "Cool Boy" in China for his love of trendy clothes, recovered from a shaky start, wearing down Ma's defences to take the match 14-21, 21-17, 21-13, 21-15.

Earlier in the quarter-finals, Kong had dispatched Belarussian Vladimir Samsonov, the only European left in the running.

"I don't think there is a war between Europe and Asia," Samsonov said. "There is a war between single players.

"Ten years ago, Europeans were dominating. Now it's China's turn. I don't know what will happen in 10 years."

The lanky former number one mounted a thrilling come-back after dropping the first two games, but succumbed in the end to Kong's relentless attack.

"Samsonov's change of tactics in the third game surprised me," Kong said. "When he is leading he plays more aggressively and then he is a very difficult opponent."

Former singles king Liu Guoliang of China met his match in Taiwan's Chiang Peng-Lung, ranked fourth, who dropped the first game but went on to win 12-21, 21-17, 21-6, 21-19.

"To be honest, at this world championships I haven't been my best," Liu said.