Long seals 27th World Tour singles title with victory at ITTF Qatar Open – Insidethegames.biz

Ma Long battled back from behind to win his fourth Qatar Open title ©Getty Images

Reigning world and Olympic champion Ma Long came from two games down to beat Lin Gaoyuan in the final of the International Table Tennis Federation Qatar Open in Doha.

Playing at ANHA Arena, the 30-year-old Rio 2016 gold medallist lost the first two games 11-9, 11-8 but then won the next four 11-5. 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 to seal the title at the Platinum World Tour event.

The win, on Long’s first World Tour appearance since August last year, was confirmed when Gaoyuan failed to return serve on match point.

Having triumphed at the tournament in 2013, 2016 and 2017, Long is now the only player to have won the Qatar Open four times.

The victory also sees the Chinese star equal Vladimir Samsonov’s record of most World Tour men’s singles titles with 27.

In the women’s event, Wang Manyu beat compatriot Liu Shiwen 4-2 to win the title after despatching world number one Ding Ning 4-0 in her semi-final.

Wang, the world number six, surged into the lead in the final by taking the opening game 11-3 but ended up being pushed hard as Shiwen won the second and fifth games, respectively.

The final score was 11-3, 10-12, 12-10, 11-6, 5-11, 11-5, giving Wang her fifth ITTF World Tour title in women’s singles.

The result marked the 15th time Shiwen had finished runner-up on the World Tour.