The reigning world champions, through to the final without losing a game, lined up a strong squad of veteran Wang Nan, world No. 2 Guo Yan and teenage talent Guo Yue against the city-state team led by Chinese coach Liu Guodong.

In their first ever meeting in an Asian Games final, Singapore,winner of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines, had little chance of repeating its giant-killing run to the title contention against China.

Singapore upset world championship runner-up Hong Kong of China3-1 in the quarter-finals and edged out defending champion DPR Korea 3-2 in the semifinals.

Wang Nan, a seasoned all-around player dubbed as one of the living table tennis legends, surprisingly went one set down in China's first game against Sun Bei Bei, a former Chinese who scored two points in Singapore's semifinal victory.

Wang, a "grand slam" winner of all table tennis honors, played a consistent game to snatch three straight sets, winning 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8.

Another former Chinese Li Jia Wei caused some trouble to the newly crowned World Cup winner Guo Yan in the second game, but Guo stood tough to take out Li 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8, before the 18-year-old Guo Yue disposed of Singapore's defensive player Tan Paey Fern 11-7, 11-6, 11-5.

Sunday's victory erased the bad memories of Wang and her team at the Busan Asiad.

The Chinese women hit their lowest in the 2002 Busan Asiad when Wang Nan lost two crucial games in a humiliating 3-1 final loss to DPR Korea.

It was the first time in 12 years that China had missed out on an Asiad women's team trophy and only the second time since the Chinese paddlers made their Asian Games debut in 1974.

The Chinese women's team, however, rebounded to lift the Corbillon Cup world team championship twice, while Wang, a center of criticism for her part in China's 2002 waterloo defeat, managed to restore her past glory by taking three titles in women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles at the 2003 Paris world championships.

In last May's world team championships in Bremen, Germany, they pocketed the women's team title without losing a game.

Sunday's victory over Singapore concluded a nearly perfect record of China in the four-year range, winning everything except the 2005 Asian championships.