World number two Timo Boll of Germany claimed the men's table tennis World Cup in Liege, Belgium on Sunday after beating Chinese Olympic silver medalist Wang Hao in a seven-set thriller: 11-3, 4-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-5.

Fired up after ousting Chinese defending champion Ma Lin earlier in the day, Boll came into form immediately and was rewarded with an 11-3 opening set.

Wang Hao, ranked fourth in the world, responded with a 11-4 second set. Boll played aggressively to snatch a 4-0 lead in the third set but Wang gained six points in a row to make it 6-4. The German turned the tables and wrapped up the set 11-8.

Wang jumped to 8-0 and grabbed the fourth set 11-3 and then the fifth 13-11.

Boll fought back from 5-8 down to take the sixth set and closed the match 11-5 after leading 5-0 in the final set.

"I was lucky today and this is the best tournament I've ever had," Boll told Xinhua, noting that he was proud because he defeated all three Chinese at the event.

"This is the first time I defeated Ma Lin in six years," he said, adding that Ma's way of handling ball is very "strange".

Boll said his next goal was the world's top ranking.

Wang Hao said he was too relaxed to snatch control while leading the game.

Ma Lin took the bronze, beating Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus 4-2. Chinese coach Liu Guoliang said Chinese had "normal performance" at the World Cup.

After competing in China's National Games, the three elites rushed to Belgium for the World Cup but were apparently not in the best form to challenge Boll.

(CRI and Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2005)