However, some things did remain the same, one name stood out above all others.

…………Ma Long won the men’s singles and thus joined the legendary group of Hungary’s Victor Barna and Chinese compatriot, Zhuang Zedong, who likewise won three in succession

…………Liu Shiwen emerged the women’s singles champion after having twice previously been the runner up; in addition she won the mixed doubles with Xu Xin and thus completed a career full house of World Championship titles.

…………Against all odds, Mattias Falck reached the men’s singles final, the first Swede to achieve the distinction since Jan-Ove Waldner when he won in 1997 in Manchester

…………China completed a clean sweep of all five titles, the ninth time they have achieved the feat but the first since 2011 in Rotterdam

…………Xu Xin, the no.2 seed, suffered a shock first round exit, later Fan Zhendong departed unexpectedly in round four; Xu Xin lost to Frenchman Simon Gauzy, Fan Zhendong to colleague Liang Jingkun

…………On debut both An Jaehyun and Liang Jingkun progressed to the men’s singles semi-finals

…………Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu and Wang Chuqin all won gold on debut, Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu secured the women’s doubles title, Wang Chuqin partnered Ma Long to men’s doubles success

…………First ever medals at a World Championships for Spain and Portugal; Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu partnered Spain’s Alvaro Robles to runners up spot in the men’s doubles event, the pair beating Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia and João Monteiro in the semi-finals

…………Ding Ning relinquished her women’s singles throne, at the semi-final stage she was beaten by Liu Shiwen; in the fifth game Liu Shiwen did not afford Ding Ning a single point, it was the same in the fifth game in the final when facing Chen Meng

…………Adriana Diaz reached the third round of the women’s singles event; the first player from Latin America to progress such a stage

MA LONG – THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME?

Only in February, MA Long’s World Championships participation was in serious doubt. The 30-year-old had been out with a persistent knee injury for over six months. Even attending the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games seemed a distant dream. Winning the ITTF World Tour Qatar Open in March then made the world sit back up and pay attention. ‘The Dragon’ was on the rise again.

Wind the clock forwards just a couple of months and MA now has his hands on the most coveted Men’s Singles prize in the annual international table tennis calendar for a third time in a row.

His sensational achievement was confirmed on Sunday, as he saw off the spirited challenge of Mattias FALCK (SWE), posting a 4-1 victory (11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5) in a gripping final in front of a raucous capacity crowd at the HUNGEXPO Budapest.

The scoreline really only told half the story of an enthralling contest, which saw FALCK threaten to fight back from 2-0 down. After winning the third game, the Swede also led 8-6 in the fourth. It was at this moment that MA utilised his timeout, clearly sensing the need to turn the tide. It proved a very intelligent move, as he stormed back onto court to go 3-1 up and take full control of the match.

When victory was confirmed in the fifth game, he let out an enormous roar, in tune with the deafening cheers of the thousands of supporters who have travelled from China and the world over to the Hungarian capital, hoping to see ‘The Dragon’ create another piece of history.

That is exactly what he did, by becoming only the third player of all time to win three consecutive Men’s Singles titles, following in the footsteps of Victor BARNA (who won four in a row between 1932-1935) and ZHUANG Zedong (1961, 1963, 1965).

MA Long

FAIRYTALE ENDS FOR FALCK

As for FALCK, his remarkable journey ended here. The 27-year-old played an integral role during the event and became the first Swede since Jan-Ove Waldner in 22 years to reach the Men’s Singles final of a World Championships.

How the world no. 16 has taken his game to the next level in the Spring of 2019 has impressed the world of table tennis and MA Long himself, who expects the Swede to be China’s main adversary in the future.

“He (FALCK) has improved his game a lot. I played against him last year in Halmstad and it was far from what he showed here.” MA Long

FALCK too confirmed that he had played the best table tennis in his career here in Budapest:

“Just give me one more year. I will be closer. I improved my tactics and I made a big step forward. Today I also learnt that not only tactics and skills work in MA’s favour. He is a very clever player, who can adjust to all situations.” Mattias FALCK

WHAT A WAY TO WIN WOMEN’S DOUBLES GOLD!

SUN Yingsha and WANG Manyu (CHN) are sitting on top of the world after winning Women’s Doubles gold in their first ever appearance as a pair at a World Championships.

The dynamic duo and 2nd seeds staged a remarkable comeback to take the title from the grasp of Hina HAYATA and Mima ITO (JPN), who had led by two games to nil and were seemingly on course for their first world titles of their own.

However, the top-ranked pair in Budapest could not withstand an exceptional fightback from SUN and WANG, who surged to win the next four games for a 4-2 victory (8-11, 3-11, 11-8, 11-3, 12-10, 11-8).

“When we were trailing in the match, we just tried our best because our opponents are very strong and competitive. We just told ourselves not to give up, but focus fully on the task at hand.” WANG Manyu

The first Japanese Women’s Doubles pair since 1971 to reach a World Championships final, there would be no happy ending to the journey of HAYATA and ITO, as China once again confirmed its historical supremacy at the event. This was the 22nd time that a Chinese pair had won the Women’s Doubles competition at an individual World Championships.

CURTAIN FALLS ON EIGHT-DAY EPIC

The Liebherr 2019 ITTF World Championships will go down as one of the greatest of all time, not least in terms of all the drama, shocks and raw emotions it provided.

From the moment that Men’s World no. 1 FAN Zhendong (CHN) was eliminated in the round of 16, quickly followed by that of no. 2 XU Xin (CHN), no. 4 Tomokazu HARIMOTO (JPN) and the sad withdrawal through illness of no. 5 Timo BOLL (GER), this was a tournament where so-called underdogs rose to the challenge and put themselves forward for the sport’s most prestigious silverware, playing some exhilarating table tennis along the way.

In this light, special mentions go to Men’s Singles silver medallist, Mattias FALCK (SWE) and bronze medallists LIANG Jingkun (CHN) and AN Jaehyun (KOR), ranked 16th, 9th and 157th respectively, proving the impressive depth in quality now on show in the sport.

The Women’s Singles event provided its own rollercoaster ride of emotions, not least for LIU Shiwen (CHN), who brought an end to her 10-year wait for gold at the World Championships, defeating compatriots DING Ning (world no. 1) and CHEN Meng (no. 3) in the semi-finals and final respectively.

Budapest indeed brought the best out of LIU also in the Mixed Doubles, which she won alongside XU Xin on Friday, while MA Long too made it two titles in the Hungarian capital by winning the Men’s Doubles alongside WANG Chuqin, seeing off the challenge of Alvaro ROBLES (ESP) and Ovidiu IONESCU (ROU) who, like FALCK, provided plenty of cheer for the many local and European followers, excited to see young players from the Old Continent asking bigger questions than ever before of their esteemed Asian opponents and taking home medals in the process.

In many ways, Budapest was different to before, but also a sign of how table tennis has the potential to be more internationally competitive across the entire globe. Bright times are ahead!

QUICK LINKS:

On a list dominated by China, she appears ahead of colleagues Chen Meng, Wang Manyu, Liu Shiwen and Zhu Yuling. It is a climb of one place for each of Chen Meng, Wang Manyu and for Liu Shiwen, the newly crowned world champion; making way, it is a drop of three rungs down the ladder for Zhu Yuling.

Next in line is the Japanese challenge with Kasumi Ishikawa and Mima Ito retaining the next two places; Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching remains at no.8 followed once again by Miu Hirano also from Japan. Korea Republic’s Suh Hyo Won climbs one position to secure the top 10 spot.

Notably, Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kem and Singapore’s Feng Tianwei complete the top 12 names; formerly Doo Hoi Kem was listed at no.12, Feng Tianwei at the 10.

Changes and lower down the order there are more notable movements. China’s Sun Yingsha, Zhang Rui and Wu Yang all make considerable progress. Sun Yingsha advances from no.29 to no.17, Zhang Rui from no.77 to no.64 and Wu Yang from no.100 to no 82.

Likewise there is major progress for the Korea Republic. Cho Hyojoo now appears at no.55 having previously been listed at no.80; Cha Hyo Sim moves from no.81 to no.51. Similarly, Kim Hayeong climbs the ladder; she advances from no102 to 83.

Also there is significant progress for Japan’s Yui Hamamoto, Poland’s Natalia Partyka and Monaco’s Yang Xiaoxin. Impressively, Natalia Partyka strides from no.91 to no.72, Yui Hamamoto from no.104 to no.87 and Yang Xiaoxin from no.85 to no.66. Meanwhile, not to be left out, Nadezhda Bogdanova of Belarus, makes her top 100 debut, she advances from no.106 to no.96.

Monday 29th April: Complete World Rankings

The status quo for Fan Zhendong, for his colleagues there is major progress, Ma Long climbs from no.11 to no.5; Liang Jingkun advances from one career high to another. He moves from no.9 to no.6.

Similarly, for Mattias Falck, the runner up in Budapest, it is unchartered waters, he progresses from no.16 to no.11; his previous best being earlier this year at no.13 in both January and February. Progress but none can match An Jaehyun, like Liang Jingkun, a bronze medallist in the Hungarian capital city; he advances from no.157 to an unprecedented no.73.

New heights, it is the same for Lin Gaoyuan, who despite a quarter-final exit in Budapest at the hands of colleague, Ma Long, climbs one place to no.2, the highest ranking of his career. The effect is that Xu Xin, also from China, drops one place, being one step ahead of Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto who remains at no.4.

A drop down the list for Xu Xin, it is the same for Germany’s Timo Boll who descends two places to no.7, whilst for Brazil’s Hugo Calderano it is fall of one position to no.8. Next in line are the Korea Republic’s Jang Woojin and Lee Sangsu. Jang Woojin advances one rung up the ladder to no.9, for Lee Sangsu it is a drop of four positions to no.10. Japan’s Koki Niwa, formerly at no.8, now completes the top 12 names.

Meanwhile, within the top 50 names there is major progress for Croatia’s Tomislav Pucar, who advanced to the fourth round in Budapest. He moves from no.58 to no.43. Notable progress and as you scroll further down the list the names, Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro, Korea Republic’s Park Ganghyeon and China’s Zhen Peifeng alongside that of Germany’s Qiu Dang stand out.

Thiago Monteiro progresses from no.91 to no.71, Park Ganghyeon from no.116 to no 78; likewise Zheng Peifeng climbs from no.84 to no.64, Qiu Dang from no.98 to no.72.

Monday 29th April: Complete World Rankings