China wins dual gold in ITTF World Tour finals in Australia

SYDNEY, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The finals of the ITTF World Tour tournament on the Gold Coast came to an end on Friday, and China delivered a dominating performance in the women's events.

The first finals matchup saw an all China affair, as Chen Meng and Zhu Yuling took on Chen Xingtong and Wang Manyu in the women's doubles rubber, with the team of Chen and Zhu proving too much for their compatriots to handle, winning the game 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-7) to cap off a stellar doubles run at the tournament.

Next up saw men's doubles action, with the South Korean team of Jang Woojin and Park Ganghyeon getting the job done against the team of Chen Chien-An and Chiang Hung-Chieh from Chinese Taipei in a 3-1 (11-2, 11-13, 11-5, 11-6) victory that could have gone either way.

The women's singles final was an absolute barnstormer, as both ladies backed up from their earlier doubles matchup, but the game of Chen was just too strong in the end for Wang to handle, with the ITTF No. 4 ranked Chen needing six sets to get the 4-2 victory in the end.

The men's final was also one for the ages, with the "Tai Chi Master" and elder statesman of the game, Vladimir Samsonov, showing the world he still has a lot left in the tank at 41 years of age, beating Simon Gauzy of France in five sets, 4-1.

Gauzy, who is 19 years younger than Samsonov, won the first set but could not match the composure of the Belarusian veteran, who demonstrated the skill that has seen him remain one of the longest running top 15 ranked players in the world.

Earlier in the day, Samsonov shared with Xinhua his preparation for the final, and said it would be the same as any other matchup, a method that now saw him take out the gold medal.

"Like I prepare for any game, I will go now for training, a short one, not too long. Have lunch, sleep a bit, and then go again to prepare for the final. It will be normal, a normal preparation like it was yesterday, and two days ago," Samsonov said earlier in the day.

This victory means that Samsonov is the first ever player to win ITTF gold on five continents - Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania.