China sweeps Croatia to maintain winning run at ITTF Mixed Team World Cup

Chengdu (China), Dec 3 China overwhelmed Croatia 8-0 for their fourth straight win at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Mixed Team World Cup on Wednesday. Mixed doubles Olympic champions Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha helped China to a 3-0 lead by dispatching Ivor Ban and Hana Arapovic 11-6, 11-5, 11-5.

"As the tournament progresses, our opponents will be stronger. Each individual match will be important to the final result; hopefully, we can stay together and go all out in every match for the win," commented Sun.

Kuai Man added another three points for the defending champion with an 11-2, 11-5, 11-5 victory over Ivana Malobabic, reports Xinhua. "Their arrangements of players were a little different from what we had expected. Facing a chopper, I made adjustments accordingly before the match, and just showed my level today," said Kuai.

Lin Shidong secured China's one-sided win after getting past Tomislav Pucar 14-12, 11-4. "As my teammates had already built a 6-0 lead in games, I felt steady and sure when entering the play, and was given more space to give full play to myself," Lin noted.

South Korea edged France 8-7 in a full-distance battle. With the score tied at 6-6 after four matches, Kim Na-yeong and Choi Hyo-joo came back from one game down to upset France's Yuan Jianan and Prithika Pavade 8-11, 11-3, 11-9 in the women's doubles decider.

Also on Wednesday, Japan outplayed Hong Kong, China 8-2, and Germany beat Sweden 8-5. Japan and Germany also went unbeaten after four rounds.

Winner of the past two editions on home soil, China takes on South Korea in the morning session, followed by a duel against France on Thursday.

China crushed Chile 8-0 to finish as the group leader with an unbeaten record at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Mixed Team World Cup on Tuesday. Japan, South Korea, and Germany are other undefeated teams after three group matches.

Facing debutant Chile, the defending champion showed its class from the outset. World No. 1 mixed doubles duo Lin Shidong and Kuai Man overcame an early test before sweeping Chile's Nicolas Burgos and Paulina Vega 13-11, 11-3, 11-3.

Also on Tuesday, Japan sailed past Croatia 8-2, South Korea swept the United States 8-0, and Germany eased past Brazil 8-2.

The ITTF Mixed Team World Cup adopts a best-of-15 format, with each match beginning with mixed doubles, followed by women's singles and men's singles. The men's and women's doubles, if required, will see their order of play determined by the team captain of the lower-ranked team. China aims to win their third straight title on home soil in the tournament, which runs through Sunday.

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