WORLD number one Fan Zhendong of China defeated Swede Truls Moregard 4-0 to take the men’s singles title while Wang Manyu was crowned as the women’s singles world champion at the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston, the United States, on Monday. Fan lived up to his billing as the world’s best player as he ended the dream run of Moregard with a straight-game 4-0 victory (11-6, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8). “I’m really happy. I was really feeling nervous before the match because I wanted to win the honor for my team and country. With this latest win, I’ll be looking ahead with more confidence as I continue to develop my career,” said Fan. Fan, 24, is famed for his excellent technique and explosiveness. He achieved the top spot in the world rankings after holding position No. 2 for 29 consecutive months, starting from November 2015. “It’s disappointing to lose, but I’m happy to have reached the final. Fan is the world’s number one for a reason and it’s a tough match,” said Moregard. The 19-year-old Swede has underlined his growing credentials with sterling performances all week, stunning his more illustrious opponents, including Timo Boll, Ahmed Saleh, Chuang Chih-Yuan, Patrick Franziska, Lim Jonghoon and Quadri Aruna. On the women’s part, world No. 4 Wang Manyu beat compatriot and world No. 2 Sun Yingsha 4-2 (11-13, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6, 11-8, 17-15) in a nail-biting match. Sun seized the early initiative by winning the first game 13-11, taking control of the opening contest with her compact strokes, speed and aggression. Wang has however leveled the score 1-1 after winning the second game 11-7. The advantage swung back to Sun, who took a 2-1 lead after winning the third game 11-6. Then, the match was evenly poised at 2-2 with Wang dominating and winning the fourth game 11-6. (Xinhua) | 