Ma Long of China returns to compatriot Wang Hao at the men's singles final at the China Open on Sunday. Photo: CFP

The winner in Qatar earlier in the year in February, Ma Long, collected his second International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour title of the year, when he succeeded in Changchun, capital city of Northeast China's Jilin Province, on Sunday.

In the final of the men's singles event at the ITTF World Tour China Open, he beat the hometown man and national team compatriot, Wang Hao, to grab the title.

Seeded No.2 in the draw, Ma overcame the No.3 seed in a most emphatic manner, recording a straight games success to secure gold (11-8, 11-8, 11-2, 11-8).

This was the 22nd occasion that Ma and Wang had met in a world ranking event and the 10th time that Ma had won, however age must be taken into account when considering the players' record against each other. 

There is a five-year gap, Ma is now 24 years old, Wang is 29 years of age and eight of Wang's wins were recorded in their first 10 encounters.

More recently, especially on the ITTF World Tour, Ma has prevailed, but not at the World Championships.

At the most recent three World Championships - Yokohama 2009, Rotterdam 2011, Paris 2013 - Ma has been beaten by Wang at the semifinal stage of the men's singles event.

The contest in Changchun was somewhat of a reversal of their meeting at the LIEBHERR World Championships one month earlier in May.

"I think the first two games were the key to the match, when I lost those games I lost concentration," admitted Wang. "Playing in Changchun doesn't give me much extra pressure, not like the Olympic Games; I want to play in the future but now I have to think about life outside of table tennis."

The philosophical Wang, while not yet 30, must surely be wondering if the  rigors and strains of being a member of the Chinese men's national team are just too great. Most leading Chinese men hang up the bat in their early 30s.

"I'm happy with my win, I'll be able to relax tomorrow," said Ma.

"This is my first proper competition since the World Championships but I feel that I played the key points well."

This is the 16th time out of 29 men's singles finals, in a total of what is now 75 ITTF World Tour appearances, that Wang has finished in the runners-up spot; for Ma it was his 15th win in 24 men's singles finals on his 53rd Tour appearance.

Ma also departed Changchun as the most successful player in the whole tournament, becoming both the men's doubles (with Timo Boll of Germany) and men's singles champion.

In the women's event, reigning Olympic and world champion Li Xiaoxia added to her ever-growing collection of silverware by winning the women's singles title.

Occupying the third-seeded position in the draw, she beat Guo Yan, the fifth seed, in an all-Chinese final in five games (11-8, 11-9, 11-4, 4-11, 11-5) to retain the title won one year ago when the tournament was held in Shanghai.

This is her first ITTF World Tour women's singles gold medal since that success; she did not appear on the Tour for the rest of the year and on her three previous appearances this year she did not succeed in reaching the final.

ittf.com - Global Times