Fifth time lucky for Ning as China win both singles titles at ITTF World Tour Grand Finals

Ding Ning triumphed at her fifth attempt in the women's final ©ITTF

China’s Ding Ning ended her wait for the women’s title at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Grand Finals as she overcame her compatriot Chen Meng in the gold medal match in Lisbon.

World champion Ning had fallen short at the final hurdle on four separate occasions at the tournament, with the last three of those defeats coming at the hands of team-mate Liu Shiwen.

With Shiwen having been eliminated in yesterday’s quarter-finals, attention was focused on Ning and she rose to the challenge to book her place in the final by beating Zhu Yuling, who she won the women’s doubles title with yesterday, 10-12, 13-11, 14-12, 11-5, 11-6.

A guaranteed gold for China was sealed when Meng prevailed in a closely fought contest against South Korea’s Jeon Jihee, 11-3, 7-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6.

After earning a game apiece in the opening stages of the final, Ning began to assert herself on the contest against the 10th seed and finally sealed the title with a 13-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-2, 9-11, 11-7 win.

Ma Long claimed his four men's singles title after a thrilling final — Ma Long claimed his fourth men's singles title after a thrilling final ©ITTF

While Ning was celebrating her maiden triumph at the Grand Finals, her fellow world champion Ma Long has recorded his fourth victory at event.

The top men's seed advanced from the first all-Chinese semi-final after holding off a fightback from Jike Zhang to emerge a 11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 12-14, 11-7, 11-8 winner.

Long faced the challenge of the number three seed Fan Zhendong, who defeated Xu Xin in the second last four match 6-11, 11-4, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 17-15.

Both Long and Zhendong produced a thrilling final to bring the curtain down on the Grand Finals, with the world number one claiming the opening two games.

He was hauled back, however, by a Zhendong charge with his rival rattling off three straight games to look on course for victory, only for Long to bounce back and force the match into a decider.

Having edged into a 6-3 led in the final game Zhendong opted to take a time out, but lost the initiative when play resumed allowing Long to reel off seven straight points to take control and eventually earn a 12-10, 12-10, 11-13, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9 win.