Ping pong king: Tran Tuan Quynh of Ha Noi T&T wins the men's singles event at the National Teams Table Tennis Championship yesterday. Quynh defeated Dao Duy Hoang of PetroVietnam 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 in the final match. — File Photo

DA NANG — Top player Tran Tuan Quynh from Ha Noi T&T team trounced Dao Duy Hoang of PetroVietnam 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 in the men's singles event at the National Top Teams Table Tennis Championship yesterday.

Earlier, Nguyen Thi Viet Linh from Public Security Ministry beat Luong Thi Tam of Army team 5-11, 12-10, 11-6,17-15, 11-6 to win the women's singles title at Da Nang's Phan Chau Trinh Sport Centre.

Having shocked with a loss in the first set, left-handed Quynh, 29, regrouped to tie 11-6 in the second set before cruising 11-4 in the third set.

Hoang was so nervous in the fourth set he made too many errors in a tense match against Quynh, eventually losing 13-11.

The Hanoian player then completed the final with a 13-11 win in the fifth set to win the trophy.

"Hoang had a good performance when he won the first set, but he had five errors in the second and third set. He then had a chance to win the fourth set when he was leading 8-6, but two bad serves kept him at bay," said PetroVietnam team's manager Truong Thoi Nhiem.

In the women's singles final, Linh, 18, made a perfect defensive play to beat the experienced Tam.

"Tam has not yet got back in top form after her two-year maternity leave. She won the first set, but her younger rival exerted a good defence to win the game today," said Army's team coach Le Xuan Phong.

Linh tied the final with a 12-10 win in the second set before cruising through the third set 11-6, winning by five points.

The fourth set saw two top-ranked female players rally the score, but Tam missed a smash and buried two backhands into the net to lose 17-15.

Linh took the momentum to edge out 11-9 in the fifth and won the game.

The Army team won the men's title, while HCM City took the women's team event. — VNS