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Japanese table tennis player Ai Fukuhara (R) throws beans during a traditional setsubun ceremony to dispel demons at Zojoji temple in Tokyo February 3, 2006. Bean-scattering ceremonies also celebrate the coming of spring in Japan. REUTERS/Toshiyuki Aizawa

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Table tennis: Fukuhara wins Big Tournament singles title

(Kyodo) _ Ai Fukuhara defeated Feng Tianwei in the final of the Japan Table Tennis League Big Tournament on Sunday to win her first singles title in three years in senior-level competition.

Fukuhara took control of the match against the former Chinese national team member and won 11-2, 11-5, 7-11, 11-4 for her third tournament victory and first since 2003 when she took the Dream Challenge Cup, the forerunner of the JTTL Big Tournament.

"I'm very happy but ashamed a little since I hadn't won a tournament for a long time," said Fukuhara, who at 17th is the highest-ranked Japanese woman in the world rankings.

"I used my head and won this time," she added, suggesting that the 17-year-old studied Feng's play in the build-up to the tournament at Obihiro municipal gymnasium in Hokkaido, which featured the top 16 players of the domestic league in both the men's and women's fields.

Fukuhara will take part in the world team championships in Bremen, Germany, on April 24-May 1.