Ma won the title for the sixth time to extend his own all-time record, beating defending champion and top seed Fan Zhendong 13-11, 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8.

Chen became the first player to win ITTF Finals gold for four consecutive years after overcoming Wang Manyu 11-9, 11-13, 14-12, 11-8, 11-5.

Both were all-Chinese finals.

Fan had defeated Ma to win last week’s ITTF Men’s World Cup and got the better of his rival in the 2019 and 2017 finals.

But Ma, the reigning world and Olympic champion, gained revenged as he executed his plan to perfection.

The 32-year-old has now won the ITTF Finals twice as many times as his nearest challenger, compatriot Wang Liqin, who triumphed on three occasions.

"I am very happy after winning such a tough battle," said Ma.

"Each and every point was difficult to win and I believe that Fan could feel it too.

"At the end it was just a great relief for me. 

"In terms of overall ability on the table, Fan is second to none at this current point in time."

After coming from two games down to beat Germany’s Petrissa Solja in the quarter-finals, Chen has been in imperious form.

Wang managed to draw level with Chen after taking the second game, but the top seed soon took control and powered to victory.

"The first three games were very close," Chen said.

"The difference was always by two points.

"Despite being in the lead most of the time, Wang kept closing the gap and the entire match was always tight.

"She was really determined and played very good shots, putting me under a lot of pressure.

"I could feel that she really wanted to win.

"At a few crucial moments, she made errors, but I made several myself as well."

Chen added to her victories in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and in doing so bettered the record of three successive gold medals that she had shared with Liu Shiwen, also of China.

The 26-year-old is now level with compatriot Zhang Yining on four women’s singles titles at the ITTF Finals.

Chen also boasts a 100 per cent record in 2020 across ITTF competitions, having registered victories in Germany and Qatar before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Since returning to action this month, Chen clinched the Women’s World Cup title before winning again at the ITTF Finals.

The competition replaced the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals, which were cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and featured only men's singles and women's singles.