Gu Yuting (R)/Mu Zi of China pose for photos during the award ceremony of the women's doubles final match against Miu Hirano/Saki Shibata of Japan during the 2019 ITTF Czech Open in Olomouc, the Czech Republic, on Aug. 24, 2019. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
OLOMOUC, Czech Republic, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese pair Gu Yuting/Mu Zi claimed the women's doubles title here on Saturday by knocking down the Japanese duo Miu Hirano/Saki Shibata at ITTF World Tour Czech Open.
As the champion of Bulgaria Open, the Chinese promising pair faced the same counterparts in the final. They knocked out the top seeds Miyuu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki in the round of 16 at Olomouc and pulled it off in the final, defeating another Japanese pair Hirano/Shibata by a score of 3-1 (9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6).
Mu told Xinhua that they made various tactical plans during the preparation, but the Japanese duo did not change much.
"We lost the first set, but I believed that was a small problem of handling the last few shots. We're on the strong side anyway," Mu said in confidence about the team chemistry.
Mu also added that she was not as the same excited as the last time winning the champion. "Maybe it's because the two tournaments are so close and I feel very tired."
"I'll appreciate my partner who shouldered more burden for I did not play well by losing many points today," said Gu.
