Jang Woojin battled his way to the Belarus Open title ©Getty Images

South Korea's Jang Woojin secured a thrilling victory over Russian opponent Grigory Vlasov in a topsy-turvy men's singles final at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Belarus Open in Minsk today.

Jang, world ranked number 48, was heavily favoured after a five set semi-final victory over Romania's Hunor Szocs.

But the 72nd ranked Vlasov had shown ominous form in ending the prospect of an all-South Korean final by beating Cho Eonrae in his last-four clash.

He began against Jang with similar confidence in taking the first three games to move within one set of victory.

But then the higher-ranked player began to fight back, gaining a crucial foothold in the fourth before ruthlessly pressing home his dominance.

He eventually triumphed 8-11, 7-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-3, 11-5.

Saki Shibata of Japan took gold in the women's singles event ©ITTF
Saki Shibata of Japan took gold in the women's singles event ©ITTF

Asia conquered Europe again in the women's singles final as Saki Shibata of Japan prevailed over Belarus' Viktoria Pavlovich.

The Japanese player was made to work hard before winning the six game encounter 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 11-8, 14-12, 11-9.

It followed a shock morning in which the two top-seeded Japanese players had each been beaten.

Shibata had overcome Hitomi Sato in five sets while Pavlovich had been pushed to seven before overcoming Yuka Ishigaki.