Injured Xu upbeat about men's doubles final at TT worlds

Chinese star Xu Xin on Saturday said he feels upbeat about the men's doubles final as he and partner Zhang Jike will take on compatriots Fan Zhengdong-Zhou Yu at the World Table Tennis Championships here.

Xu/Zhang defeated Lee Sang-su/Seo Hyun-deok from South Korea 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6, 4-11, 11-3 while Fan/Zhou beat Kenta Matsudaira/Koki Niwa of Japan 11-6, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6 in Saturday's semifinals, reports Xinhua.

"Overall we played well. We have experience and it's not difficult to win," said Xu.

Asked about the all-Chinese men's doubles final, Xu said he and his partner Zhang will have an upper hand. "We are technically equal, but we have much more experience."

Xu suffered an injury in his left shoulder two days ago but still fought hard in Friday's mixed doubles final and won the title with South Korean Yang Hae-un. Xu admitted that the injury might still be a worry for future competitions.

"The shoulder injury indeed affected me during the matches and after the match it hurts even more."