STORY: Chinese paddlers sweep titles at WTT Champions Incheon
SHOOTING TIME: March 31, 2024
DATELINE: April 1, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:27
LOCATION: INCHEON, South Korea
CATEGORY: SPORTS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Inspire Arena in Incheon, South Korea
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): SUN YINGSHA, Paddler
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): LIANG JINGKUN, Paddler

STORYLINE:

Chinese paddlers swept both women's and men's singles titles at WTT Champions Incheon as Sun Yingsha and Liang Jingkun were crowned the champions on Sunday.

World No. 1 Sun harvested a straight-set victory of 4-0 in the showdown against her compatriot Wang Manyu. Sun won the final 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 and 11-4.
   
In the semifinal on Saturday evening, both Sun and Wang won over their teammates Wang Yidi and Chen Meng, 4-0 and 4-2 respectively, to set up an all-Chinese final.
   
Speaking after the victory, Sun said her overall performance was great. 

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): SUN YINGSHA, Paddler
"I think (Wang) Manyu and I know each other quite well. We train together, we are partners, and we play together. I think it is more important that I prepared myself very well mentally before today's game. I hope that I can focus on the last few games later. I will do my best so that I can finally go to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games."
   
In the men's final against Brazilian world No. 8 Hugo Calderano who eliminated China's world No. 1 Fan Zhendong 4-2 in the semifinal, second seed Liang won the first game 11-6, lost the second 6-11 before he swept three games in a row (11-8, 11-7, 11-5) to take home the crown.
   
On Saturday, Liang edged over his compatriot and third seed Ma Long 4-3 in the semifinal.
   
Liang noted that winning the game against Ma was a breakthrough for him. 

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): LIANG JINGKUN, Paddler
"When I played against Ma Long yesterday, my mind was actually very relaxed. Winning the game against Ma was a breakthrough for me. As for today's final against Calderano, I think I had a good play and my movement and the pressure that I put on the opponent were in place. And this time I won the championship. There are a lot of competitions ahead, including the World Cup and the Saudi Smash 2024. I hope to continue to make more solid progress step by step."

As the first WTT Champions Series event on the 2024 calendar, the world's top players gathered in Incheon to battle for a prize pool of 300,000 U.S. dollars, while both champions will also earn 1,000 ITTF world ranking points each.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Incheon, South Korea.
(XHTV)