WANG Shi-ting has set her sights on next year's Asian Games in Hiroshima after collecting her fourth Asian Championships women's singles title yesterday at Victoria Park. The 20-year-old Taiwanese beat China's Li Fang 7-5, 6-1 in the final to maintain her unbeaten record at Victoria Park - since 1991 - and win the $31,300 top prize. But the world number 30 said the Asian Games, which replaces the Championships for next year, will provide her with an even harder task. Standing in her way are a trio of Japanese players who are ranked in the world's top 50, led by world number 13 Kimiko Date. ''The Asian Games will be very different,'' said Wang, who won her first Asian title in 1988, in Manila. ''There are three Japanese players who are very good. Kimiko is the favourite. I played her earlier this year in Tokyo and she beat me in straight sets.'' Wang, as Asian champion, also wins a main draw wild card place in a major international women's tournament next year. Japan's Kentaro Masuda was the surprise package in the men's singles competition when he reached the final against South Korea's former champion Chang Eui-jong. Unseeded and ranked 653 in the world, Masuda defeated fourth-seeded Indonesian Benny Wijaya 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-1) in the semi-finals. Masuda, 22, is only ranked seventh in Japan, although he is the current all Japan champion. In the quarter-finals, he beat Thailand's Vorapol Thomgkamchu, the player who knocked out China's defending champion Xia Jiaping in the previous round. Sixth-seeded Chang, the 1991 winner, had a comfortable 6-0, 6-4 victory over compatriot Kim Chi-wan to qualify for today's final.
