Defending World Cup champ Ma Lin scored a hat trick on Sunday in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province to claim his third men's singles title in the International Table Tennis Federation tournament. Chinese women also held on to their dominant position, claiming their eighth consecutive World Cup title.

Ma repeated his come-from-behind victory of 2003, posting a 4-2 win against Kalinikos Kreanga of Greece, whom he also defeated in the 2003 World Cup. Ma won his first championship in 2000.

In the women's final, the world's No. 1 Zhang Yining followed her impressive performance at the Athens Olympics by dethroning her older teammate Wang Nan in a 4-2 victory during an all-Chinese final.

Kreanga made it to the men's final after overpowering Joo Se-hyuk of South Korea 4-2 while Ma advanced earlier after a lopsided 4-0 victory over younger compatriot Wang Hao, the Athens Olympic finalist.

Like last year, Ma seemed nervous in the opening set and put up little resistance. It took him some time to find his game, trailing 1-2 after three sets.

"I did not feel very well at the start. But I was always confident that I have an advantage over him in skill. Anyway, I have won many times against Kreanga," said Ma.

In the men's bronze medal match, Wang got off to a comfortable start after beating South Korea's Joo in a seven-set thriller.

But the 21-year-old Wang, who has been under pressure since his Athens Olympics loss to South Korean Ryu Seung-min in the finals, needed a timely win here to boost his confidence. He lost the semifinal match to Ma in straight sets.

"I am satisfied with Ma's performance in the tournament. His form is good and he did a very good job in controlling the match," said Liu Guoliang, Chinese men's head coach. A former world and Olympic champion himself, Liu stated that Wang Hao still has room for improvement.

In the women's finals, Olympic champion Zhang and teammate Wang scored semi-final victories against Tie Yana of Hong Kong and Li Jia Wei of Singapore on Saturday, claiming yet another title for China. The Chinese women have won the previous seven World Cups, with Wang taking three and Zhang winning two.

Zhang was nervous going into the match and trailed 3-9 in the first set. But the 23-year-old came back strongly and won the gripping first set.

Wang Nan took one set back but continued to struggle with Zhang's speed and power.

Zhang said winning against her fellow paddler, who has won the majority of their previous encounters, was not a matter of skill.

"It is always difficult to play Wang Nan. She is one of the best players in the world," Zhang said. "The skill is not what wins the match. It is more important for me to keep my mind on the match and not to think about too much else."

Wang said she did not play well in the final, but gave credit to the younger star.

"Years ago, I was the top player and all I had to do is defend my position. Now she is the top one and I am a challenger and I have to try my best to win every match."

But Wang says any rivalry between them is good-natured. "We are good friends and I hope we can keep our good form and win more glory for China."

In the third-place playoff, Tie outlasted Li 4-1.

(China Daily November 1, 2004)