The Chinese women's team managed to defend its title for the 20th time after thwarting off Japan's bid to steal the crown in the 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

China stomped Japan's national women's team 3-0 in the final of the tournament to bring home the world championship title at the 2016 world Team Championships.

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Liu Shiwen, who was the first player to see action for China, beat Japanese Ai Fukuhara easily 11-5, 11-6 and 11-8, giving a perfect start for her team.

"I played in a fairly good state today due to the support from our strong team. I also want to extend my appreciation to the audience in the stadium, who have been cheering up for us," Liu said.

The second rubber for China came from Li Xiaoxia, who battled it out against Kasumi Ishikawa in a tough game. Li lost the first two sets 6-11 and 7-11 but demonstrated her dominance from 8-all of the third set, winning 11-9, 11-3 and 11-5.

"Though I have not been in my best state during the championships, I still feel satisfied with the result. After all, I managed to tackle with the pressure and win the match," Li said.

Ding Ning, the reigning world championship, also admitted having a tough time defeating 15-year-old Mima Ito. Ding lost the first set 8-11 but managed to dominate the rest of the match, 11-7, 11-8 and 11-1.

In an interview with the official Xinhua news agency, the Chinese women's team head coach Kong Linghui said he decided to let Ding play the third rubber because the reigning world champion was playing very stable.

TagsChina Table Tennis, World Table Tennis Championships