Baboor goes down fighting in final

Second seed Chetan Baboor went down fighting to top seed and defending Syed Mathew of England after a marathon five-game tussle in the men's singles final in the 15th Commonwealth table tennis championships, in Delhi, on Friday evening..

The epic match saw the Indian ace wrest the third and fourth games before succumbing over extra points in the decider at 7-21, 16-21, 21-11, 23-21, 26-28.

Top seed Li Jia Wei of Singapore retained the women's singles title, defeating Li Chun Li of New Zealand in the final.

In a battle of nerves, Wei conceded only the second game before winning 23-21, 18-21, 21-16, 21-19.

Earlier in the day, favourite Matthew, ranked 52nd in the world, brushed aside his unseeded teammate Herbert Gareth 21-12, 21-18, 21-10 in the semi-finals while Baboor was taken the full distance by Nigerian third seed Toriola Segun, who saved four match points, before prevailing.

Segun, 51 places below his rival -- ranked 85th in the world -- played aggressively to rally twice before Baboor varied his shots well in the decider to win 21-7, 19-21, 21-15, 13-21, 21-16.

Top seeds Li Jia Wei of Singapore and Li Chunli of New Zealand also enjoyed contrasting wins to reach the women's singles final.

Li Jia Wei, aiming for her second consecutive title, coasted to a 21-11, 21-13, 21-11 victory over Malaysia's Yao Ling Jing, the fourth seed.

Li Chunli had to overcome a fightback by third seed Zhang Xue Ling of Singapore before winning 21-8, 23-21, 19-21, 22-24, 21-19.

Earlier report
Baboor storms into semis