Sports officials and fans on Saturday congratulated Taiwan’s Chen Chien-an and Cheng I-ching for winning the mixed doubles silver at the Liebherr 2017 World Table Tennis Championships in Duesseldorf, Germany.
It was the best showing in the mixed doubles category for Taiwan at the championships.
Chiang and Chen won the championship bronze in Zagreb, Croatia in 2007, and bronze in Manchester, England in 1997.
Photo: AFP
Chen Chien-an and Chuan Chih-yuan won the men’s doubles after defeating Hong Kong duo Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem in the semi-final by four games to three.
Chen and Cheng took a 3-1 lead in the best of seven final, but Japan’s Maharu Yoshimura and Kasumi Ishikawa came from behind to claim the victory with 4-3.
“I got upset at myself for letting it slip when we were leading by 3-1. We could have done better, but the title slipped away from us,” Chen said. “The Japanese duo made their rally in the fifth game, when they increased the pace and made many drop shots and changes to their plays. They took the initiative and we had to react to their attack, then we got behind and had to catch up, but they did not let up.”
Photo: EPA
In the men’s singles, Taiwan’s Chuang Chih-yuan ended his tournament in the final 16, losing to China’s Ma Lung, who is top-ranked in this category.
Chuang was defeated 8-11, 11-13, 1-11, 6-11, ending Taiwan’s medal hopes for the tournament.
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