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World No.1 Ma wins first men's singles world championship

Xinhua, May 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

World No. 1 Ma Long from China won his first men's singles world table tennis championship as he defeated teammate and giant-killer Fang Bo 4-2 (11-7, 7-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-13, 11-4) on Sunday.

Ma, who was stopped at the semifinals three times in 2009, 2011 and 2013 tournaments, finally seized the best possible chance to get past unknown Fang for the most coveted crown at these championships.

Fang could leave with his head held high as the world No. 14 was a true dark horse who stunned world No. 2 Xu Xin in the fourth round and then the twice defending champion Zhang Jike in the semifinals.

The 23-year-old Fang managed to steal two sets and produce some dicey moments in others while playing against the 26-year-old Ma.

But a much more experienced Ma could always raise his game much above the level and pulled away when it counted.

Fang got off to a great start in the first set, building a four-point lead and looking like he wasn't going to be intimidated by the pre-tournament favorite.

The lead was short-lived. From 2-6, Ma went on a run like always, reeling off next nine of 10 points to take the set.

Fang again started well in the second set with a two-point edge. Ma kept it close and evened it 7-all before Fang had a run of his own, winning the last four points to take the set.

But Fang lost consistency immediately and dropped the third set 4-11.

With 1-2 behind in sets and 5-7 down in the fourth, Fang took a timeout in hopes of arresting Ma's momentum, but Ma pushed the game out of Fang's reach, winning 11-8.

Ma went up 5-2 in the fifth set, shouting for every point, but Fang was not done yet.

The two traded points until Fang won three in a row to give himself a set point at 10-9 but he could not seal it.

At 11-11, the players performed the best rally of the tournament, blasting away shot after shot, and Fang won it, giving himself one more set point which he converted to stay alive.

But Ma was unstoppable in the sixth set as he never looked back after snatching a big lead. Endi