Shiwen seals fourth ITTF Women's World Cup crown with dominant win over Ishikawa

China's Liu Shiwen sealed her fourth ITTF Women's World Cup crown with victory over Kasumi Ishikawa ©ITTF

China’s Liu Shiwen secured her fourth International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Women’s World Cup crown with a dominant win over home favourite Kasumi Ishikawa in Sendai today.

The top seed was in ruthless form as she cruised to a 14-12, 11-2, 11-9, 11-2 success to become only the second woman to win four World Cup titles, following in the footsteps of compatriot Zhang Yining.

“At the vital times, I really had to make sure that I was positive; certainly it is a greater honour to be named alongside Zhang Yining winning four ITTF Women's World Cup titles,” Shiwen, who also won the title in 2009, 2012 and 2013, said.

“This victory will hopefully boost my chances of being selected in the Chinese Olympic team for Rio 2016.”

Shiwen was made to work hard in the opening game by Ishikawa, a member of the Japanese team which won silver at the London 2012 Olympic Games, but was able to establish a lead by winning it 14-12.

From that moment on, Shiwen, runner-up in the women’s singles at this year’s World Championships in Suzhou, dictated proceedings as she dropped just two points on the way to claiming the second game.

Ishikawa responded briefly in the third but never looked like causing an upset as Shiwen silenced the home crowd by taking the title with a straight-games success.

Petrissa Solja became the first German woman to win an ITTF World Cup medal ©ITTF

Shiwen had earlier had to overcome the rising challenge of Germany’s Petrissa Solja, who beat world number four Ai Fukuhara of Japan in the quarter-finals, while Ishikawa reached the final by ousting Chinese-born Dutchwoman Li Jiao.

Solja managed to end the competition on a positive note as she became the first German to win an ITTF Women’s World Cup medal, fighting back from two-games down to edge Li in their battle for bronze.

The 42-year-old from The Netherlands, who had also caused a surprise earlier in the tournament by ousting number two seed Zhu Yuling, had raced into an early lead but began to tire and Solja took full advantage, eventually sealing a 7-11, 6-11, 11-2, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8 success.