World champion Guo Yue paired with Liu Jikang for their hometown
Shenyang to win the mixed doubles title at the table tennis
competition of the 6th Chinese City Games on Wednesday.
The Guo/Liu beat fourth ranked Li Xiaoxia/Chen Hao from Jinan
4-3 in the thrilling final.
"Both sides performed strongly and luck played a role in our
victory," said Guo, while Li admitted that a great desire to win
the game put her under pressure and made her underestimate Guo.
The Li/Chen duo had a flying start, taking the first set 11-8,
before Guo/Liu rallied to win the second 11-8.
The encounter became a seesaw battle when the Jinan pair fought
hard to win the third set 12-10. But Guo/Liu soon staged a spirited
comeback and regained control in the next two sets, winning 11-8,
15-13.
The sixth set turned out a thrilling, lengthy one in which Guo
and Liu lost to their rivals 14-12.
Cheered on by a tumultuous hometown crowd, Guo and Liu won the
deciding set 11-9 though Li and Chen tried desperately to narrow
the gap.
Xu Xin/Wang Daqin from Pudong District of Shanghai finished
third, after defeating Nanjing's Lin Chen/Yu Longfei 3-2 earlier in
the day.
On the previous day, Guo Yue and her teammates Wen Jia and Yang
Yang, representing Shenyang, were defeated by their rivals from
Guangzhou, losing the women's team title.
(Xinhua News Agency October 25, 2007)