It's Diamond time. Perhaps a note of explanation is in order. T2 Diamond is an innovative new series of tournaments pitting the very best players in the world against each other for unprecedented purses. The three events in this, its inaugural year, offer $1.5 million (USD) in prizes. Another intriguing facet of the Diamond is the novel game format. Games are decided by sudden death, rather than the traditional requirement to win by two points. Also moving things along is a unique feature called Fast5. If a match lasts longer than 24 minutes, each subsequent game will be won by the first player to reach five points. Furthermore, the event offers bonus world ranking points, especially important as players jockey for Olympic qualifying position. Against this dramatic backdrop, we find two highly skilled competitors in the final of the women's singles event. On paper, it should have been a close match, featuring two 19-year-old, right-handed shakehand attackers ranked in the top ten in the world: China's Sun Yingsha (#3) and Japan's Mima Ito (#7). Their superficial similarities notwithstanding, no one could have predicted how close their match would turn out to be. In a seesaw battle, Sun showed why she gets top billing, winning a nail-biter, (11-7, 11-3, 6-11, 7-11, 5-3, 3-5, 5-4). At 4-all in the fifth, both players had match point simultaneously, a particularly precarious predicament only possible in T2 Diamond events. Customarily, diamonds sparkle in the sun. In this case, it is Sun who sparkles in the Diamond.

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