Xu Xin imposed his authority on proceedings; at the semi-final stage he had beaten Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto, the no.3 seed (11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 5-11), thus putting both teenagers firmly in their places.

He maintained his ascendancy against the two hot properties. Against Tomokazu Harimoto, Xu Xin has now won all six encounters on the international scene; for Lin Yun-Ju it as all three.

Emphatic

Furthermore, the results this year have been most emphatic. At the ITTF-ATTU Asian Championships, he beat Tomokazu Harimoto in straight games; against Li Yun-Ju, both prior encounters being this year on the ITTF World Tour, he succeeded in five games in Japan, in straight games in Australia.

Such is the quality of Xu Xin and the fact that his style of play is different to all other mortals; notably in the penultimate round, Lin Yun-Ju had accounted for Lin Gaoyuan, the no.2 seed and like Xu Xin from China in straight games (11-6, 11-10, 11-8, 11-8). Xu Xin proved a totally different adversary.

Next in series

Comprehensive; for Sun Yingsha and Mima Ito it is like a world series baseball contest where the same teams play each other time and time again to determine the champion.

It was their fifth meeting this year, the balance now being four wins in favour of Sun Yingsha, the third in a final. She beat Mima Ito in the third round of the women’s singles event at the Liebherr 2019 World Championships, before succeeding on the ITTF World Tour in the title deciding contest in Germany and in the same round at the ZEN-NOH Team World Cup in Tokyo. The one win for Mima Ito was in early November at the semi-final stage in Sweden.

Penultimate round

In the penultimate round in Singapore, Sun Yingsha beat colleague, Wang Manyu, the no.4 seed (7-11, 11-7, 6-11, 5-1, 5-0, 5-1); Mima Ito ended the hopes of Korea Republic’s Jeon Jihee, the no.15 seed (11-7, 5-11, 11-10, 11-2, 5-1).

Sun Yingsha succeeds compatriot Zhu Yuling who won in July in Johor Bahru.