The Hindu : Sport / Table Tennis : Double delight for China

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Sport

Sport - Table Tennis

Double delight for China

— PHOTO: AP

OVER THE MOON: Chinese men celebrate their triumph.

BREMEN (GERMANY): China won the men's world team table tennis championship on Monday with a dominant 3-0 victory over South Korea in the final.

It was the 15th World title for the holder, which has not been beaten in team championship since losing to Sweden in 2000. It completed a clean sweep after the Chinese women triumphed on Sunday in its final against Hong Kong.

Total domination

Led by current individual World champion Wang Liqin, Chinese men swept aside all before it and lost only one individual match throughout the competition, in the semifinal against Germany, to record a 24-1 win-loss ratio in individual matches.

World No.3 Wang Hao, 22, got the holder off to a flying start with a comprehensive 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 thrashing of Oh Sang-eun.

China then pitted Wang Liqin against Olympic champion Ryu Seung-min, one of the few players in the World able to compete at the same level as the dominant Chinese. It proved a masterstroke.

Ryu led Wang by two games to one in a nail-biting match but the World champion showed great grit and determination to come back and win the next two and dash any faint hopes Korea had.

Wang was actually the only Chinese player to drop a game in the men's final as World No.4 Ma Lin then beat Lee Jung-woo 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 to complete a Chinese whitewash.

The victory made China retain the Swaythling Cup achieved two years ago in Doha. Germany and Hong Kong won bronze medals in the men's competition.

In the women's section, Belarus and Japan took bronze.

Sharath sizzles

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Achanta Sharath Kamal won two games to help Indian men chalk out a 3-2 win against Slovenia in a play-off match to finish 35th.

With this win, India, which squandered the chance to qualify for the elite division, losing to England and then to lowly Argentina with identical 2-3 margin, managed to stay in division two.

India began on a shaky note, with Soumyadeep Roy losing the first match. Sharath Kamal restored parity with a straight games win, but Jitendra Kumar Gidla was no match for his opponent and the Slovenians wrested back the lead.

It was Sharath Kamal again, who fought back from a game down to make it 2-2. Soumyadeep then made amends for his loss in the first match to give a 3-2 win.

The results: Men's final: China bt South Korea 3-0 (Wang Hao bt Oh Sang-eun 11-6, 11-8, 11-4; Wang Liqin bt Ryu Seung-min 11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7; Ma Lin bt Lee Jung-woo 11-9, 11-7, 11-7).

Play-off: India bt Slovenia 3-2 (Lasan Sas bt Soumyadeep Roy 11-7, 11-4, 11-4; Sharath Kamal bt Roposa Bojan 11-7, 11-5, 11-6; Horvat Mitja bt Jitendra Kumar 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9; Sharath Kamal bt Lasan Sas 11-4, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6; Soumyadeep Roy bt Roposa Bojan 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-9).

Women's final: China bt Hong Kong 3-1 (Zhang Yining bt Lin Ling 11-4, 11-9, 11-6; Gua Yue lost to Tie Yana 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 22-20; Wang Nan bt Lau Sui Fei 7-11, 12-14, 12-10, 11-8, 11-3; Zhang Yining bt Tie Yana 11-8, 11-3, 11-9). — Agencies

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