Ovtcharov first German to win China Open title in a decade

CHENGDU, Southwest China, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Dimitrij Ovtcharov needed a very late comeback to beat fellow German Timo Boll and became the first European player to win the ITTF World Tour China Open in a decade, while Ding Ning claimed the women's title here on Sunday.

The world No. 5, highest ranked male player other than the prestigious Chinese, romped to a 3-1 lead in the final, before Boll, 36, the last German having lifted trophy at the China Open in 2006, nailed down two sets in a row to force a decider and managed to seize four match points.

Ovtcharov, however, launched an astonishing comeback while trailing 10-6, taking six straight points to win the decisive set and wrapping it up 17-15, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9, 7-11, 6-11, 12-10.

"It's kind of lucky but not coincident to hit six balls all," commented the 28-year-old after coming back from the brink.

As Ovtcharov and Boll set up the all-German men's singles final after the withdrawal of the top 3 Chinese paddlers Ma Long, Fan Zhengdong and Xu Xin, the other three finals at the China Open were all clashed between national teammates.

In the women's singles final, newly crowned Dusseldorf world champion Ding Ning put an end to a heroic giant-killing run of teenage colleague Sun Yingsha, beating the 16-year-old 8-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-7, 11-6.

Before facing off with the 27-year-old Grand Slam winner, Sun, who won both women's singles and doubles titles on her senior debut last week at the Japan Open in Tokyo, saw off both Singapore's world team champion Feng Tianwei and four-time World Cup holder Liu Shiwen.

It has been Ding's 13th ITTF World Tour title in 23 finals, and the third time for her to win the coveted title at the China Open.

Previously in 2014 and 2016, Ding won both time in Chengdu and beat teammate Liu Shiwen on both occasions.

Earlier on Sunday, Ding and Liu, winners in Dusseldorf at the recent world championships, repeated the success, triumphing over fellow Chinese Chen Meng and Zhu Yuling 9-11, 11-7, 11-4, 12-10 for the women's doubles title.

On the men's doubles part, Japanese teens Jin Ueda and Maharu Yoshimura beat teammates Tomokazu Harimoto and Yuto Kizukuri 12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9 in the final.