Verviers (Belgium), Oct 28 (IANS) China’s Xu Xin won the men’s table tennis World Cup by beating three-time winner Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus here on Sunday.
The top seed beat the 37-year-old world No. 6 in five sets (11-6, 12-14, 11-8, 11-9,11-7) for his first men’s singles title at major championships, Xinhua reported.
Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov, who had lost to Xu in the semis, grabbed the bronze medal by overcoming compatriot and two-time winner Timo Boll, also in five sets (11-3, 8-11, 11-5,11-5,11-6).
“I hope this will become a turning point for my career,” said Xu, last year’s semi-finalist. “I am sure it will boost my confidence in future international competitions,” he added.
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Samsonov, who won the title in 1999, 2001 and 2009, was satisfied with his performance in his 15th World Cup campaign.
“I feel I had two good wins here; yesterday I beat Chuang Chih-Yuan and today Timo Boll,” he said.
Xu, one of the big three guns in the Chinese national team, the other two being Zhang Jike and Ma Long, said Olympic and world champion Zhang Jike is still the best player in the world.
“Zhang Jike has won a grand slam of World Cup, world championships and Olympic Games. My goal is also to win in the worlds and Olympics,” he said.
