Taiwan table tennis Olympians win WTT mixed doubles title

Taipei, Oct. 27 (CNA) Taiwanese Olympians Lin Yun-ju (林昀儒) and Cheng I-ching (鄭怡靜) on Sunday won the mixed doubles title at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Contender London 2025 competition.

The duo, ranked No. 11 in the world, defeated the world No. 5 pair Wong Chun Ting (黃鎮廷) and Doo Hoi Kem (杜凱琹) of Hong Kong on the last day of the WTT event at Copper Box Arena in London.

The Taiwanese team started off strong, pulling six points ahead of their rivals at one point in the first game, but Wong and Doo bounced back to win the game 11-8.

At the start of the second game, Lin and Cheng seemed to have regained their composure, and they went neck-and-neck with Wong and Doo, tying the score 9-9 at one point, before going on to win 11-9.

The Taiwanese mixed doubles partners, who were bronze medal winners at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, maintained their momentum in the third game, taking it 11-7.

They seemed unstoppable when the crucial fourth game started, as they quickly took an early five-point lead, scoring a 7-2 advantage.

With just one final point to conclude the 10-6 game for the gold, the Taiwanese duo faced a strong comeback by the Hong Kong players, who scored three points to put the game on edge at 10-9.

With gold in sight, however, Lin and Cheng converted a match point to win the game and take the WTT mixed doubles title.

Once ranked world No. 1 as a mixed team, Lin and Cheng had been playing with other partners or competing in other categories before teaming up again this season.

At the WTT Star Contender London 2025 competition, held Oct. 21-26, Lin and Cheng made it as far as the semifinals of the men's and women's singles, respectively.