Ma Long claims men's singles gold

China's Ma Long claimed his third straight men's singles title at the World Table Tennis Championships here on Sunday, becoming the first man in over half a century to do so.

The 30-year-old multi-Olympic champion's top spin attacks and placement shots were too much for Sweden's Mattias Falck, with Ma winning 11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5.

Ma is only the third man in history to have claimed three or more consecutive singles crowns, a feat that had not been achieved since compatriot Zhuang Zedong won the 1961, 1963 and 1965 editions of the biannual tournament.