ITTF World C'ships: China's Fan/Wang claim men's doubles title in Durban

Durban (South Africa), May 27 Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin helped China reclaim the men's doubles title after overcoming the South Korean pair Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon in straight games at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships (WTTC) Finals here on Saturday.

Facing last edition's runners-up, who had fallen to Sweden's Mattias Falck and Kristian Karlsson two years ago in Houston, the Chinese pair emerged victorious 13-11, 11-6, 11-5 in the title showdown.

Lee Sang-su and Cho Dae-Seong of South Korea and the German duo of Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Patrick Franziska shared the bronze medal.

On Friday, Wang Chuqin partnered with Sun Yingsha as they retained their mixed doubles title.

In a repeat of the tournament's final in Houston two years ago, the top-ranked Chinese pair overwhelmed world No.2 Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata of Japan 11-6, 11-2 and 11-7.

It was also China's third straight mixed doubles title in the table tennis worlds since Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen won in Budapest in 2019.

Wang and Sun broke open a 6-6 tie early with five points in a row to move one game ahead.

The Chinese duo showed no signs of slowing down in the second game on their way to a lopsided victory.