16-year-old rising star Sun surges past her elders while world No. 1 Ma confirms dominance on men's side
Sun Ying-sha smashes a forehand in the final at the Japan Open against Chen MengChina’s 16-year-old Sun Yingsha capped a stunning ITTF World Tour debut by winning the Japan Open women’s singles on Sunday, while world No. 1 Ma Long claimed his first title.
Sun, who won the women’s doubles title a day earlier at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, was on dangerous ground against world No. 5 Chen Meng after falling behind 3-1, but beat her compatriot 4-3 in an aggressive yet composed display.
“The doubles win yesterday gave me the confidence. I wasn’t sure if I could win today, but am glad I did,” said Sun, who defeated 18-year-old 2014 and 2015 world junior champ Wang Man-yu in semifinals in straight games.
Wang had won against Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa and 16-year-old Mima Ito en route to the semifinals, while Chen, who beat Germany’s Han Ying in the semis, had ousted 17-year-old Asian champ Miu Hirano a day earlier.
Chen, 23, said the youngster was the worthy winner.
“She has her own style, she plays at pace and is mature with her game,” Chen said.
In the men’s singles, top seed Ma worked his way past third-ranked countryman Xu Xin in the semis before downing second seed Fan Zhen-dong 4-1 in the final.
“I was here 10 years ago but finished second, so I’m really happy to win today,” 28-year-old Ma said after beating Fan in a repeat of their worlds final.
Japanese fourth seed, Jun Mizutani, went out 4-1 to Fan in the semifinals. He gave the home faithful a lift by winning the fourth game, but a slow start cost him dearly and dashed hopes of a Japanese appearing in a singles final.