Wang/Sun crown mixed champions at WTT Ljubljana

LJUBLJANA, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The world top-ranked mixed pair Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin claimed the title after clinching a 3-1 victory over compatriots Qian Tianyi and Liang Jingkun on Saturday at World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Contender Ljubljana.

Top seeds Sun and Wang led most of the opening game in Saturday's title showdown, but faced stern resistance as Qian and Liang managed to work their way to a game point opportunity at 10-9.

Sun and Wang did well to recover from the deficit, landing three points in a row to claim the game 12-10. However, Qian and Liang showed great fighting spirit in the second game to level the score 11-9. Sun and Wang responded with back-to-back game wins 11-4 and 11-7 to secure the victory.

"Both sides played well in today's match. The first two games were very intense. Liang and Qian are very energetic in this tournament and their overall cooperation was of high quality," said Sun. "We're well-prepared for difficult situations and keep focused on every point."

"Shasha (Sun) delivered very stable play in Ljubljana and we tried to find out the best way that fits us. Meanwhile, we are also clear of where we still need to work on and we will continue to improve ourselves through future competitions," said Wang.

The result sees Sun and Wang take home their fourth mixed title of the year following successful outings at Singapore Smash, ITTF World Championships and last week's WTT Contender Zagreb.

The duo extended their incredible winning run on the world stage with their last defeat as a pair coming three years ago at the hands of Mima Ito and Jun Mizutani from Japan at the 2020 ITTF Qatar Open.

Elsewhere, China's players have secured the titles of men's and women's singles in advance as Wang Chuqin, Fan Zhendong, Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng have taken all the finals spots by defeating their opponents in the quarterfinals and semifinals on Saturday.