The 22-year old outclassed her compatriot Wu Yang in the final, winning in straight sets, 11-3, 11-7, 11-2 to strengthen her position atop the ITTF world rankings- a position she regained earlier this month, ending team-mate Ding Ning's 22-month streak at the pinnacle.

"It is an honour for me to win the Women's World Cup for the third time" said the world number one.

"This has given me a lot of confidence, which will hopefully allow me to realise my dreams of becoming World and Olympic champion.

"I am thrilled to be playing the Women's World Cup in Japan, where the crowd is very supportive and knowledgeable about the sport.

"I hope that I will be able to carry this streak forward to next year for the Tokyo World Team Championships when China will be defending our title."

Her defeated opponent Wu stated that she was happy to reach the final and show glimpses of her quality, and that she is eyeing up major titles in the near future.

Singapore's Feng Tianwei took the bronze medal at the ITTF Women's World Cup in Kobe

"As this was my first World Cup, I was happy that I was able to show the world my level," she said.

"I now need to go home and practice my tactics for these big matches, so next time I can win."

Singapore's Feng Tianwei won the bronze medal with a victory over Jiang Huajun of Hong Kong, taking the match 11-6, 13-11, 12-10, 11-2.

"Overall I am satisfied with my performance, and happy that despite the difficulties I faced in this high level event, I was able to overcome my opponent and bring home the bronze medal," said the London 2012 singles bronze medallist.

"I am looking forward to coming back to Japan next year for the World Team Table Tennis Championships, where I hope I can help Singapore win another medal."

Next up on the ITTF calendar is the men's World Cup, which is due to be  eld in the Belgian city of Verviers from October 25-27.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
September 2013: Ding denied two years at top by team-mate Shiwen