For years, a teenage phenomenon has been heralded as the next big thing in men's table tennis. 16-year-old Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan has been playing beyond his years for years. Ranked fourth in the world, Harimoto received automatic entry into the the T2 Diamond tournament in Joho Bahru, Malaysia, an invite-only event for the top 16 men and women in the world. Today, a teenage phenomenon won the prestigious event, only it was someone else entirely. Sneaking into the tournament with the last invitation offered by virtue of his #16 world ranking, Chinese Taipei's Lin Yun-Ju punctuated his quiet, steady rise to global power with an emphatic win. On his path to the final, Lin overcame such luminaries as Japan's Jun Mizutani, China's Ma Long, and Hong Kong's Wong Chun Ting, who had sent Tomokazu Harimoto packing in the first round. Lin faced Fan Zhendong of China in the final. Fan, who until recently had spent over a year at the top of the world rankings, was the heavy favorite, résumé replete with countless ITTF World Tour titles. Lin, unimpressed, proceeded to win three of the first four games. In a unique feature of the T2 Diamond series tournaments, games starting after the 24-minute mark of the match go to sudden death at five points. With this expedite rule known as FAST5 in effect after four games, Lin took full advantage, closing slamming the door shut with a (11-7, 11-4, 8-11, 11-5, 5-0) scoreline. Less surprisingly, fourth-seeded Zhu Yuling of China won the women's title, besting compatriot Wang Manyu (11-9, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 5-2). Both stars will enjoy bonus world ranking points, not to mention record prize money. Emerging from the relentless pressure, these diamonds shone the brightest.

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