Taiwanese Lin Yun-ju finishes 2nd in Singapore table tennis tournament

Taipei, Nov. 25 (CNA) Taiwanese teenager Lin Yun-ju (林昀儒) was crushed by his Chinese opponent in the men's singles final at the T2 Diamond table tennis tournament in Singapore on Sunday and had to settle for second place.

The 18-year old Taiwanese, who came under the spotlight after he won the T2 Diamond Malaysia title in July, lost 0-4 (9-11, 5-11, 8-11, 6-11) to World No. 2 Xu Xin (許昕) of China.

Lin put up a good fight but was forced to stay on the defensive throughout the match, as he struggled to keep pace with his opponent's array of attacking shots.

The 29-year old Chinese player remained dominant to the very end, knocking out Lin in four straight games to win the Diamond title in Singapore.

A former World No. 1, Xu has won 14 World Tour Singles titles, including the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in 2012 and 2013. He is also an Olympic champion, having won the men's team title at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The T2 Diamond Table Tennis League is a series of annual professional events organized in collaboration with the ITTF and held in Malaysia, China and Singapore. It features the top 32 male and female players in the world, competing in three tournaments for a combined purse of US$1.5 million, according to the league's website.

The Singapore tournament this year took place Nov. 21-24.