TABLE TENNIS/Veteran Taiwan paddler wins World Table Tennis Feeder series

Taipei, March 25 (CNA) Taiwan's veteran table tennis player Chuang Chih-yuan (莊智淵) on Monday took home the men's singles championship title at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Feeder Beirut II 2024.

Chuang outplayed 27-year-old Kazakhstani paddler Kirill Gerassimenko 14-12, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9 to take his first win of 2024 in the lower-tier tournament in which most of the players were ranked outside the world top 40.

The 42-year-old Taiwanese veteran got off to a slow start, initially falling behind his younger opponent, but he later picked up his pace to tie the game four times before taking three consecutive points to win it 14-12.

Chuang then rode his momentum to start the second game with a 4-0 lead before breezing to a 11-5 win.

Gerassimenko reversed the momentum in the third game and held 8-4 and 9-6 leads in the fourth game, seemingly poised to send the best-of-five match to a final game.

But the Taiwanese veteran fought off the pressure and secured five consecutive points to take the match and the title.

The victory earned the world No. 39 Chuang US$550 (NT$17,531) and 125 ranking points.