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SHENZHEN, China, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese paddlers Ding Ning and Lin Gaoyuan emerged from the second stage of team trials here on Friday, obtaining the tickets to the World Table Tennis Championships, scheduled to be held in Dusseldorf, Germany in May.
Thus, Ding Ning and Lin Gaoyuan joined Fan Zhendong and Liu Shiwen, who came out from the first stage, to represent the Chinese team in the World Championships. However, there are still three berths for the men's and women's teams respectively.
Lin Gaoyuan, 22, was a dark horse in the competition. He claimed two-straight wins over Xu Xin and Zhou Yu in the second stage to set his first appearance at the World Championships.
"I have thought about becoming the winner of the trials, and the thought was stronger and stronger as the game went on," said Lin.
The world 49th-ranked beat two top-three players Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin in the first stage, nearly got the ticket before losing to world No. 1 Ma Long on Tuesday. But Lin quickly back on track and maintained his good form in the second stage, eventually got the chance to the World Championships.
"Many top players emerged from the team trials. I hoped one day I could be one of them. Now, the dream comes true," Lin added.
"Ma Long taught me to slow down when close to the victory, so I tried to do so in today's matches and the results turned to be well," Lin said he learned a lot from his elder teammates.
Rio Olympics gold medalist Ding Ning, also the captain of the women's team, beat her teammates Chen Meng 11-7, 11-9 and Feng Yalan 4-11, 11-8, 11-9 in the final stage of the trials, and demonstrated her strength as the current world number one.
"I didn't get systematic training after the Rio Olympics and got a fever recently. Sometimes I felt tired quickly in the game. I will have a rest after the trials and try to train better then to prepare for the World Championships, " said the Grand Slam winner.
