China sweeps two golds of table tennis at Incheon Asiad

China's all-conquering paddlers clinched the women's and men's table tennis team titles after defeating Japan and South Korea respectively on Tuesday.

The team of Liu Shiwen, Ding Ning and Zhu Yuling defeated Japan 3-1 to retain the women's crown for the third straight time, while the trio of Ma Long, Xu Xin and Zhang Jike outclassed the hosts for their sixth consecutive Asiad title.

Ding, the London Olympics silver medalist, met some trouble against Fukuhara Ai of Japan in the first match and lost two straight games, 11-6 and 11-9.

The 24-year-old Ding, currently world No.2, managed to come back by winning the third set 11-3. However, the 26-year-old Fukuhara finished the fourth game 15-13 to put Japan 1-0 ahead.

It's Fukuhara's first win over Ding on the international arena.

"I think Ding was too nervous. If she had been stable, I would have lost. Because I have never won against her before, so I was relaxed today," said Fukuhara.

Liu Shiwen, the top-ranked player in ITTF world rankings, also encountered a dodgy start against Ishikawa Kasumi, losing 11-3 in the first game. After some adjustments, she eventually won the match by winning three straight games 11-6, 11-7 and 11-8.

In the third rubber, Japan's starlet Hirano Miu, who is only 14-year-old, was not strong enough to challenge reigning world champion Zhu Yuling, losing 11-8, 11-4 and 11-3.

Ding defeated Ishikawa 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 in 23 minutes to secure the third straight Asiad title for China.

"My coach taught me how to recover from a defeat, so I was able to regain my rhythm. I'm used to winning and losing," said Ding.

In men's team final, despite being neck-and-neck in the opening match, South Korea's Joo Sae-hyuk lost to Ma Long 3-1. Xu Xin then beat Lee Jung-woo 3-0 in 22 minutes and Zhang Jike also made a comfortable win against Jeong Sang-eun with a set score of 3-0.

"Today's competition is much easier than expected. I think we have made enough preparations before the game. It's a great enjoy and also a big challenge to fight against the host, because there are plenty of audiences to watch and cheer for them," said Xu Xin.

Joo got one point by defeating Ma in the third game with 10-12, which was the only win of the host.

"We did our best today. I think China's team did very well," said Joo.

Ma, who played for the same club in Chinese league together with Joo, also paid tribute to the 34-year-old veteran.

"Joo played great today, which was barely seen in the super league," he said.