Li Jiawei (L) and Zhang Xue Ling display their gold medals following the awards ceremony for the women's doubles table tennis final at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne
MELBOURNE - Singapore's Zhang Xue Ling sprang a surprise over compatriot Li Jiawei to win gold in the women's table tennis singles at the Commonwealth Games here Sunday.
Zhang, ranked 47th in the world, beat Li, the tournament's top seed ranked third in the world in a seven-game thriller, 6-11, 11-3, 11-5, 2-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-2.
Li took the first game easily but the Beijing-born Zhang powered back in the second and third, using her formidable back-hand smashes to secure 11-3 and 11-5 wins.
But Li, who had partnered Zhang to gold in the women's doubles on Saturday, fought back in the fourth game, opening up to deliver a fine display of aggressive forehand shots in her romp to an 11-2 game win.
With the scores tied at two apiece, Li upped the ante in the fifth game, containing Zhang's strong backhand game to run out 11-7 winner.
But Zhang rallied back to take the sixth game 11-7 to draw level at three games each.
The final game started with some prolonged rallies, with neither paddler able to pull away from the other, but Zhang eventually stamped her authority on the game for an 11-2 win and a 4-3 upset to claim gold.
"It's certainly the biggest win of my career," Zhang said.
In the bronze medal game, Xu Yan, also of Singapore, beat Miao Miao of Australia in straight sets, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7, in 23 minutes.
The women's singles clean sweep added to the impressive showing of the city-state's paddlers in the Commonwealth Games competition.
Singapore has already swept the mixed doubles, taken gold in the women's team event and silver in the men's team. On Saturday, it added women's doubles gold and silver to the glittering haul. - AFP/ir
-from channelnewsasia.com
