Arresting performances, after accounting for Tahiti’s Ocean Belrose (11-6, 11-8, 11-5, 11-3), Heming Hu overcame colleague Rohan Dhooria (11-6, 6-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8) to seal the title, sinking to his knees in both delight and relief after securing the final point.

In the corresponding semi-final Rohan Dhooria had beaten New Zealand’s Nathan Xu (11-4, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8), the 15 year old eventually finishing in third place; in the bronze medal contest he accounted for Ocean Belrose in six games (11-3, 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-2).

Authority imposed, authority was even more commandingly imposed by the yesteryear pen-hold grip style of Jian Fang Lay.

After recording a semi-final win against New Zealand’s Zhou Jiayi (11-3, 11-3, 11-1, 11-8), she overcame compatriot Parleen Kaur (11-6, 11-5, 11-5, 11-5) to secure her passport to Chengdu. Third place finished in the hands of Zhou Jiayi, she beat Chen Zhiying, also from New Zealand (5-11, 11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4), the latter having lost to Parleen Kaur in the penultimate round (11-8, 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7).

Meanwhile, in the contests to decide the Pacific Cup champions, the event for which players from Australia and New Zealand are not eligible, Tahiti struck gold. Ocean Belrose won the men’s singles title beating Vanuatu’s Yoshua Shing (3-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8, 11-8), in the counterpart women’s singles event Sally Yee overcame sister Grace Rosi Yee (11-8, 11-13, 11-7, 11-9, 15-13) to claim the top prize.