China/S.Korea pair win mixed doubles while China secures women's singles gold

Chinese player Xu Xin shrugged off a shoulder injury scare to team up with South Korean Yang Hae-un to win the mixed doubles title at the ongoing world table tennis championships on Friday.

Co-coached by Liu Guoliang and Ahn Jae-hyung, the transnational pair overcame the Japanese team of Maharu Yoshimura and Kasumi Ishikawa 11-7, 11-8, 11-4, 11-6.

Ahn, who is married to former Chinese world champion Jiao Zhimin and speaks fluent Chinese, is head coach of the South Korean men's team, while Liu heads the Chinese team.

Xu, who suffered a muscle strain in the mixed doubles semifinals and even lost in the men's singles fourth round due to the injury, still managed to hit top form in the final. His partner Yang was also at the peak of her game and Xu/Yang made the final a lopsided one.

"It's normal for an athlete to get injured, but I must fight like a soldier. I'm so happy that we can win the title as a transnational pair. I think it's good for both countries to expand the cooperations in future," said Xu.

While Yang saw the pairing with Xu as a learning experience. "Xu helped me a lot during these matches. He told me to just play normal and helped reduce the pressure on me. I also learned many things from the Chinese coaches," said Yang, adding that she looked forward to playing more tournaments with Xu.

Earlier, China has nailed its 11th straight women's singles title at the world championships as its players swept all four semifinal berths.

Mu Zi ousted the biggest threat to Chinese, Singapore's world No. 4 Feng Tianwei 11-5, 11-2, 11-9, 11-5, while Li Xiaoxia came from two sets down to nip Japanese teenager Mima Ito in six sets (9-11, 14-16, 11-2, 11-7, 13-11, 11-2).

In the all-Chinese games, Liu Shiwen beat Zhu Yuling in five sets (11-3, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-3) and top-ranked Ding Ning outlasted defensive player Wu Yang in seven (11-8, 11-7, 11-5, 7-11, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8).

Chinese women have monopolized the event since 1995, with Deng Yaping winning twice straight, Wang Nan three times in a row, Zhang Yining twice, Guo Yue, Ding Ning and Li Xiaoxia once.

In men's singles, Chinese Fang Bo ousted an injury-hit Xu 4-3 to make the quarterfinals. World number one Ma Long, defending champion Zhang Jike and Youth Olympics champion Fan Zhengdong of China also progressed to the quarterfinals. Endi