< < zpìt / back
22 AUG 2004: Asia's new generation to fight for table tennis gold; Ryu ends Waldner dream
21 AUG 2004: Waldner left to defend Europe against Asia in semi-finals
20 AUG 2004: Swedish ecstasy as WALDNER beats Boll
20 AUG 2004: Chinese and Hong Kong men reach Olympic final
19 AUG 2004: China media under fire for gold-medal hype
18 AUG 2004: China endure mixed fortunes
18 AUG 2004: Unbelievable Waldner & Persson
17 AUG 2004: Table tennis legend to retire from next Olympics
17 AUG 2004: Greek hope Kreanga exits
16 AUG 2004: Men's Doubles: Favourites all through to the third round
15 AUG 2004: Chinese table tennis girls lock opponents in Olympic debut
15 AUG 2004: Men's Singles Second round : One surprise, defenders still alive
15 AUG 2004: Honduran loses replay
14 AUG 2004: Olympics-Table tennis-Japanese "cry-baby" growing up in Athens
13 AUG 2004: Werner Schlager's comments after draw
13 AUG 2004: Olympics-Table tennis-Chinese diaspora take stage in singles
12 AUG 2004: Olympic draw taken place
11 AUG 2004: Two Koreas Prepare for Joint Table Tennis Training
11 AUG 2004: Chinese TV puts a new spin on table tennis
10 AUG 2004: Chinese suspicious of table tennis rule changes
08 AUG 2004: Li 'forced' to reveal her birthday wish
24 JUL 2004: Samsonov wins Olympic warm-up
06 JUL 2004: Li Jiawei returns after overseas win
25 MAY 2004: Li sisters for Athens
30 APR 2004: Qualification complete
30 NOV 2003: Favourites shivering
| Ryu ends Waldner dream
ATHENS, Aug 22 (AFP/BBC Sports) - World number one and defending champion Wang Liqin was bundled out the Olympics table-tennis tournament as the men's singles semi-finals confirmed the emergence of Asia's next generation of stars.
Twenty-year-old Wang Hao showed little respect for the game of team-mate 2000 Sydney Olympics gold medallist Wang in dishing out an 11-8, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9, 11-3 semi-final lesson.
After winning gold in the doubles in Sydney and the 2001 world singles championships, 26-year-old Wang Liqin came to Athens as the favourite to win the singles title in what would most likely be his last Olympic campaign.
In contrast, Olympic debutant Wang Hao was the third and final name entered to represent China in the men's singles despite being ranked number four in the world.
In front of him were Wang Liqin and 24-year-old Ma Lin, the world number two.
But Wang Hao has outshone his compatriots with the fastest hands and showing few of the nerves that particularly Ma has said the Chinese team has suffered from as they try to maintain China's extraordinary dominance of the sport.
China has lost just 3 of the 16 golds on offer in both men's and women's events since the sport was introduced to the Olympics in 1988.
In the other semi-final, 22-year-old Ryu Seung-Min, the world number three, ended the exciting bid by Swedish great Jan-Ove Waldner to become the oldest player in the history of the sport to win an Olympic gold.
The unseeded Waldner, 38, displayed glimpses of the talent that carried him to Olympic singles gold in 1992 and silver in 2000, including a no-look cross court forehand winner to save a set point midway through the match.
But Ryu's reflexes were a shade quicker and his defensive coverage slightly more agile, enabling him to over-run Waldner for a 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 victory.
Waldner will still have the opportunity to become the only man to have won Olympic medals of each colour in table tennis when he meets Wang Liqin in the bronze medal play-off on Monday.
For Wang Hao, winning the final on Monday would give China a third consecutive men's singles title following the victories of Liu Guoliang in Atlanta and Kong Linghui in Sydney.
Ryu will be aiming to emulate the feat of Korea's only Olympic table tennis gold medallist, Yoo Nam-Kyu, who won the men's singles title in front of a home crowd when the sport made its debut in Seoul.
Jan Ove Waldner - profile
PUT YOUR OPINION
| Waldner left to defend Europe against Asia in semi-finals
ATHENS (AFP) - Swedish table tennis great Jan-Ove Waldner was once again left alone to defend Europe against the might of Asia after defeating German Timo Boll in the quarter-finals of the men's Olympic singles.
Waldner, who at age 38 came into the tournament unseeded and nearly forgotten among the younger crop of stars, defeated ninth-seeded Boll 11-7, 13-11, 6-11, 11-7, 13-11 in front of a raucous crowd of Swedish fans.
The 1992 Olympic champion, who has so often throughout his career been the main European rival to China's stream of world champions, will meet South Korean world number three Ryu Seung Min in Sunday's semi-final.
The other semi-final will be a match-up between Chinese world number one Wang Liqin and his fourth-ranked team mate, Wang Hao.
Waldner, who also won silver at the Sydney Olympics (news - web sites) and is a two-time world champion, lost in the first round of the world championships last year after failing to find form following a broken ankle.
But in Athens he has dispelled any suggestions he was a spent force in the game, with Chinese world number two Ma Lin his scalp in the round of 16.
An elated Waldner said after Friday's win he had almost lost his nerve when facing two match points from 10-8 in the fifth set.
"I was a bit lucky to get to 10-8 and then suddenly I was thinking: 'Oh shit, I'm in the semi-finals of the Olympics again'," Waldner said.
"When I had to serve I was not 100 percent relaxed. I didn't know what to do with the serve."
Asked how he felt immediately after defeating Boll, Waldner said: "It's down to three Asian players and me. Now I'm the European champion."
Ryu set up his showdown with Waldner with a comeback victory over Hong Kong's Leung Chu Yan 6-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9, 11-5.
Wang Liqin eased past Hong Kong's Ko Lai Chak 11-9, 13-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-4, while Wang Hao overcame Taiwanese fifth seed Chuan Chih-Yuan 5-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-7.
In the doubles, an all-China final was assured after the top-seeded pair from the mainland, Chen Qi and Ma Lin, and Ko and Li Ching for Hong Kong won their semi-finals.
Chen and Ma were forced to struggle all the way against unseeded Danish duo Michael Maze and Finn Tugwell, eventually claiming a six-set victory on their fourth match point.
In a tense match in which the Danes had plenty of opportunities to beat their much more highly rated opponents, Ma and Lin triumphed 11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 8-11, 13-11, 13-11 in 59 minutes.
Ma, who admitted succumbing to pressure in his singles defeat to Waldner, was especially pumped up throughout the game.
The other semi-final was just as close with Ko and Li, both Chinese-born but now representing the tiny territory that is a special administrative zone of China, beating Russia's Dimitrij Mazunov and Alexei Smirnov.
The third-seeded Hong Kong pair won 11-5, 11-9, 5-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, backed by the rowdy Chinese fans who stayed to support them after cheering Chen and Ma to victory.
The doubles final will be played on Saturday.
Jan Ove Waldner - profile
PUT YOUR OPINION
| Swedish ecstasy as WALDNER beats Boll
Athens, Aug 20 by Ian Marshall, Table Tennis Illustrated - Jan-Ove WALDNER, the 38 year old 1992 Olympics gold men’s singles medallist and twice world champion from Sweden, has underlined his status as the greatest ever table tennis player with another sensational victory at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
His quarter-final men’s singles victim was Europe’s best prospect for the future, the personable 23 year old Timo BOLL (Germany), recently world no.1, who earlier in the competition had knocked out the current world champion, Werner SCHLAGER (Austria). WALDNER had vanquished the 2nd seed and world no.2, MA Lin from China, in his previous match.
WALDNER beat BOLL, 7-11, 11-13, 11-6, 7-11, 11-13, in just 35 minutes. His strategy against the younger, faster man seemed to be to keep the ball tight at the beginning of the rally, keep the left-handed German guessing what he was going to do and attack very hard when he had the opportunity. The player with the ‘golden touch’ served up a constantly changing variety of shots and nuances, so that BOLL could never settle.
He dominated the first game, but BOLL seemed to have gained the initiative as the German went into a 10-5 lead in the 2nd game. However, the Swede came back with a series of forehand and backhand looped winners, plus a backhand punch block of a Boll topspin, to win that game as well, 13-11.
In the 3rd game BOLL turned up the pace and exerted his whippy forehand loop and sharp backhand to take it 11-7, but WALDNER came back strongly in the 4th, winning an important powerful loop-the-loop rally after the Germans had called time-out at 7-8 down. BOLL netted a WALDNER serve on game point and the Swedish veteran was 3 games to 1 up.
WALDNER led through most of the 5th game and got to 10-8, but showing tremendous fight and tenacity BOLL saved 3 match points before the legendary Jan-Ove settled the matter with another forehand loop.
The large contingent of Swedish spectators went wild, and continued their acclaim as their hero presented himself to the King and Queen of Sweden, who have supported all his Olympic campaigns,
Once he found his rhythm, world no.3 and Olympic no.3 seed RYU Seung Min (Korea), beat his fellow pen-holder LEUNG Chu Yan (Hong Kong) 6-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 to go through to the Olympic men’s singles semi-finals.
RYU said, “In the beginning I was 2-0 behind on the games because I was trying to find out how my opponent was playing. On the 3rd game I started to realise the spin of the ball on his services and after that it was easy for me to win.”
LEUNG said, “I was very careful with my strategy and not so aggressive on my opponent. That was a big mistake. That is why I lost it.”
Jan Ove Waldner - profile
PUT YOUR OPINION
| Chinese and Hong Kong men reach Olympic final
Athens, Aug 20 by ittf.com, Ken Muhr - In an Olympic men’s doubles semi-final battle of two left and right handed partnerships, the left handed shake-hands player CHEN Qi and penholder MA Lin (China), edged out left-handed Michael MAZE and Finn TUGWELL (Denmark) 11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 8-11, 13-11, 13-11. It was so close.
The first game was neck-and-neck the whole way, the Chinese finishing 11-9 with 2 loop-the-loop winners, CHEN playing a tremendous cross-court backhand from a forehand from MAZE, and MA executing a forehand from TUGWELL’s forehand.
However, following a strategy of playing tight touch returns, occasional long pushes and flicks to awkward positions, and getting in with their forehand loops when they could, the Danes scrapped the 2nd game 12-10, from 7-9, and 8-10 down. The Chinese called time out after losing their first game point when CHEN had netted a touch return from TUGWELL, but it did not help them. A TUGWELL forehand loop saved the 2nd game point for the Danes, and TUGWELL took them game point ahead with a controlled switched backhand, which concluded a top-spinning rally. MAZE ran round his backhand to forehand loop cross-court for the game.
In the 3rd game it looked like the Danes might be edging ahead when they led 7-5. CHEN, who was the most aggressively dangerous of the Chinese but who also made a lot of errors, played another strong forehand loop to win the next point for China, but the next 5 consecutive points came from errors from the Danes who lost the game 7-11.
MAZE and TUGWELL took the 4th game closely, and had a great opportunity of winning the 5th, when they led 9-6. Following a MAZE missed loop of a difficult ball at his body, the Danish called time-out at 9-8. MAZE then missed another loop-the-loop, but TUGWELL produced a tremendous counter loop to give the Danes game point at 10-9. This was their only game point. CHEN saved it with a big forehand winner, and it was him that ultimately won the game for China 13-11 with yet another strong forehand.
Only a point or 2 ever separated the pairs in the 6th game, with MAZE particularly impressive for Denmark, and CHEN for China, with their swinging left handed topspins, but China were always kept slightly ahead, finally claiming victory on their 4th match point when TUGWELL miss hit a loop of a push.
After the match MA Lin said, “We have not played against them in the past, so the match had a lot of tension. It was a hard one. I think our greatest weapon is the combination of left handed – right handed.”
MAZEconsidered, “We played okay. We had chances.” Regarding their opponents he said, “They are almost the same level. MA Lin is more experienced but CHEN Qi is more talented. The latter played some extraordinary balls at some crucial occasions. He will be a great player.”
In the second men’s doubles semi-final, KO Lai Chak and LI Ching (Hong Kong) proved slightly too fast for the Russian spin experts Dimitrij MAZUNOV and Alexei SMIRNOV, winning 11-5, 11-9, 5-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6. They are therefore guaranteed at least a silver medal, and will be first players from Hong Kong to win an Olympic table tennis medal of any sort.
KO said, “Last night we didn’t sleep too much, because we were thinking about the tactics we would use today. We made a lot of research about our opponents, so that we played very good and we won.”
MAZUNOV said, “We had a great route (to the semi-finals). Although I played with my brother Andrei as a pair, with Alexei I managed to co-operate well soon enough, although my style is different than his. Today we could have won the match. We had planned some things for the game, but we couldn’t adjust our tactics in the match as we had wanted.”
While KO and LI will meet CHEN and MA (China) in the final, a European bronze medal is assured (representing a first Olympic table tennis medal for either country), to be fought out between Danes MAZE and TUGWELL and Russians MAZUNOV and SMIRNOV.
PUT YOUR OPINION
| China media under fire for gold-medal hype
BEIJING, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Chinese athletes have failed to keep the flame burning after dominating the first few days of competition at the Athens Olympics and state media have come under fire for exaggerating their potential.
The media should stop "competing for a gold medal in hype", the China Daily said in an editorial on Thursday. Articles and photographs of China's athletes are plastered across front pages, newspapers are publishing Olympic supplements and some television channels provide an almost round-the-clock feed.
China won the first medal of the games and followed with a slew of unexpected victories, including their only swimming title so far.
By Tuesday China had 10 golds, prompting the official Xinhua news agency to speculate on the possibility that the team could claim more than 30 this year -- two more than in Sydney and 10 more than this year's stated goal.
But, with major upsets in events in which China has historically dominated -- such as gymnastics -- officials have criticised the media for putting too much pressure on the athletes by building up expectations.
"Exaggerations have been made in the media before and during the Games, surely adding to the athletes' complacency and subsequent stress when things started to go wrong," the China Daily said.
"We must keep a clear head...it's imperative that we don't become overly optimistic," the Beijing Morning Post quoted Li Furong, deputy director of China's Athens delegation as saying.
On Monday, China's champion male gymnasts managed to reach only fifth place in the team event. The women fared even worse on Tuesday, finishing seventh.
Top men's badminton player Lin Dan was overwhelmed in the first round. Table tennis hero Ma Lin was defeated on Wednesday by 20th-ranked Swede Jan-Ove Waldner.
China has traded experience for youth at this year's Games, leaving behind previous champions to prepare better for a glorious show when Beijing hosts the Olympics in 2008.
PUT YOUR OPINION
| China endure mixed fortunes
Athens, 18 August 2004 (bbc.co.uk) China's hopes of a clean sweep of Olympic table tennis titles took a knock in a mixed day of competition.
Chinese second seeds Linghui Kong and Wang Hao crashed out of the men's doubles, falling to Swedish veterans Jan-Ove Waldner and Jorgen Persson.
Waldner then came back to the table to oust China's world number two Ma Lin in the men's singles.
But men's top seed Wang Liqin and his female counterpart Zhang Yining faired better, reaching the quarter-finals.
Zhang looked confident as she took just 25 minutes to seal a 4-1 win over Hong Kong's Lau Sui Fei.
World number one Wang Liqin comfortably defeated South Korea's Joo Sae Hyuk by the same scoreline.
China's top-seeded pair of Ma and Chen Qi defeated Dutchmen Danny Heister and Trinko Keen 4-2 in the men's doubles.
In the women's event, Niu Jianfeng and Guo Yue came through a close match against Japan's Ai Fujinuma and Aya Umemura.
But Niu tumbled out of the women's singles as she was upset by North Korea's Kim Hyang Mi. And she insisted the Chinese squad are not living up to their fearsome reputation. "We aren't satisfied with our performance so far," said Niu.
Sweden's Waldner believes the pressure on the Chinese team could affect their performance. "We are not favourites so it's easier to play them," said the Barcelona Games gold medallist. "When we play against the Chinese, they have everything to lose."
PUT YOUR OPINION
| Unbelievable Waldner & Persson
Athens, 18 August 2004 (ittf.com by Ken Muhr and Ian Marshall, foto by AFP/Ramzi Haidar)- The morning session of play in the Galatsi Olympic Stadium proved successful for European players. Dimitrij MAZUNOV and Alexei SMIRNOV of Russia beat fifth seeds CHEUNG Yuk and LEUNG Chu Yan of Hong Kong whilst Lucjan BLASZCZYK and Tomasz KRZESZEWSKI overcame CHIANG Peng-Lung and CHUAN Chih-Yuan of Chinese Taipei but undoubtedly the performance that brought the crowd to its feet was that executed by the legendary Swedes, Jörgen PERSSON and Jan-Ove WALDNER.
‘Unbelievable’ is the word that everyone is using to describe their efforts in knocking out the second seeds from China, KONG Linghui and WANG Hao, in the 3rd round of the Athens Olympics men’s doubles, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9, 12-10.
When the Swedes lost the first game 8-11, it seemed that they would put up a respectable showing against their much younger adversaries, KONG, 28, and WANG, 20. There were some good rallies, including a multi-stroke smashing and lobbing rally won by the Chinese attacking.
However, WALDNER and PERSSON then went up into a different gear, casting off the years. They returned tight and got in whenever they could, mainly with strong forehand loops to their opponents forehands, and there were several dynamic loop the loop rallies. They played with a speed, sharpness, athleticism and agility which they haven’t shown for years. A feature was also the increased use WALDNER is making of strong backhand loops, which he threw in on strategic occasions.
The Swedes won the 2nd game comfortably but all the other games were very close, KONG and WANG playing some strong shots but never quite finding their rhythm. The Chinese corner tried to halt the Swedish tide at 2 games to 1 down by calling time-out in the 4th game when they led 9-8. But the older men responded by winning the next 3 points for the game, WALDNER producing a sensational fast forehand loop from over the table to go to game point.
In the fifth game WALDNER and PERSSON were game point down at 9-10, by they seized victory through 3 consecutive winners: a massive forehand loop from WALDNER, a PERSSON backhand kill, and a PERSSON cross-court forehand loop for the result. The audience went wild!
Afterwards PERSSON said, “Our tactics were clear and we were fast. We stepped just a little back off the table and we attacked mainly to their forehands. Now we have a chance of a medal. We didn’t play well in Olympics before.”
WALDNER added, “Our tactics were working well but we were also lucky in the deciding points. It was very important that we had played several times already. It was KONG’s first match and WANG Hao has played only once (in the singles) so they had less time to get the feel of the ball.
We played better than we did yesterday or in practice. It is the best I have played for 4 years. We don’t start as favourites, but others now have to beat us. They have everything to lose. I am in good shape, but I’m not sure that I am in good enough shape for tonight’s match against MA Lin (China).”
WANG Hao commented, “We were not as good as our opponents in our co-ordination. Furthermore, we weren’t so fast and powerful.”
A moment of sympathy should be given KONG Linghui, who could not defend his 2000 Olympics singles gold medal, and he is now out of the men’s doubles after his first Athens appearance, in an event in which was also a silver medallist last time.
PUT YOUR OPINION
| Table tennis legend to retire from next Olympics
Athens, 17 August 2004 (Shanghai Daily)- Sweden's table tennis legend and five-time Olympian Jan-Ove Waldner said here Tuesday that he didn't plan to participate in the next Olympic Games to be hosted in Beijing, China four years later.
"Even if I do well here in Athens and in the next World Championships, I am not going to be present in Beijing 2008," said Waldner after he won a third round match against Serbia and Montenegro player Aleksandar Karakasevic 4-2 Tuesday evening.
Waldner, who conceded the third and fifth game in the match, said that he enjoyed the match "even if it was tough". "It was good for me that I got the feeling of the single match," he added.
The 39-year-old Swede, the first "Grand Slam" winner of singles titles at world championships, World Cup and the Olympic Games in the table tennis history, will play Chinese ace paddler Ma Lin in the next round.
"Ma and I played many times before and it would definitely be a tough match for me as Ma is one of the top-seeded players in this tournament," said Waldner. "If I win, it will be a big surprise for me, and for him (Ma) too," he added. "Anyway, I have nothing to lose, so I can take risk in the match."
The Swede has participated in the Olympic Games for five times since table tennis became an official event of the Games in Seoul 1988. He was crowned singles champion in Barcelona 1992.
At all major international tournaments including the Olympics in recent years, Waldner had been repeatedly asked when he will quit his professional career, but each time he refused to give a clear answer.
PUT YOUR OPINION
| Greek hope Kreanga exits
Athens, 17 August 2004 (ittf.com by Ken Muhr)- To the great disappointment of his Greek supporters, local hero Kalinkos KREANGA, 32, the no.8 seed and world no.9, fell 5-11, 7-11, 9,11, 8-11, to 1991 world champion, Jörgen PERSSON (Sweden), 38, the world no.22, in the 3rd round of the Olympics men’s singles. The tall blond Swede was quite simply superb. He started the first game serving and returning the ball tight and attacking at the first opportunity, mainly with strong forehands taken very early, racing to a 10-3 lead and winning 11-5. PERSSON remained very sharp in the 2nd game and won 11-7, KREANGA never being allowed to settle and get going his brand of all action backhand and forehand loops away from the table.
KREANGA started better in the 3rd game, but when he missed a backhand hit to go 3-4 down his coach called time-out. He lost the next 2 points, but came back with 2 big winners, a forehand killer loop and a power forehand block to nearly level at 5-6. PERSSON maintained the pressure to pull away to 9-6 ahead, but then KREANGA had a good run of power attack to finally level 9-9. There then followed the most critical point of the match, a vicious forehand loop-the-loop rally with KREANGA over-hitting his last loop. Having gone up 10-9, PERSSON consolidated,11-9.
The final game was close all the way, KREANGA winning a tremendous two wing looping rally to go to 2-2, but PERSSON pulled away to hold 3 match points at 10-7 up. KREANGA saved 2, but then PERSSON executed a strong cross-court forehand loop to secure victory.
PERSSON said, “I was very pleased with how I played. It is the best I have played for years. I had the advantage because KREANGA had not played here before, there was more pressure on him because of big Greek expectations so he was nervous, and I know his game because we play together on Pro Tours and the Kenshoen World Tour. Because of that I won some easy points. I wanted a good start to put pressure on him.
It feels great now. I have had the benefit of good training and preparation. There are only 16 players left and though of course I would like a medal, I will take each match at a time.”
KREANGA accepted defeat gracefully. “Someone has to win, someone has to lose. There are many good players. The Greek supporters will be disappointed, but they understand that. They were great. They will be supporters of table tennis, whoever is playing. The Chinese are the favourites to win.
Jörgen started very sharp and I could find no rhythm. I had a chance to win the 3rd game, I missed a key forehand. It was an important game and I know it. Losing it made the 4th game more difficult for me.”
PUT YOUR OPINION
| Men's Doubles: Favourites all through to the third round
Athens, 16 August 2004 - It was a round for the favourites at the Galatsi Olympic Hall as the second round of the Men's Doubles Table Tennis competition was completed.
The former world champions Jan-Ove WALDNER/Jorgen PERSSON (SWE) defeated Johnny HUANG/Faazil KASAM (CAN) 4-0 and received the biggest applause so far, for foreign players, at the Galatsi Olympic Hall.
Denmark pair Michael MAZE/Finn TUGWELL overcame some problems in the early games to Nigeria's Peter AKINLABI/Kazeem NOSIRU 4-1.
Trinko KEEN/Danny HEISTER (NED) wrapped up a comfortable 4-1 win over William HENZEL/David ZALCBERG (AUS).
America's Mark HAZINSKI/Ilija LUPULESCU failed to register a game as they lost to CHIANG Peng-Lung/CHUAN Chih-Yuan (TPE) 4-0.
The 2002 european champions, Timo BOLL/Zoltan FEJER-KONNERTH (GER) also had a 4-0 win, accounting for Japan pair Shu ARAI/Ryo YUZAWA.
Doubles silver medallist at Barcelona in 1992, Jorg ROSSKOPF and his new doubles partner Lars HIELSCHER (GER) were beaten 4-2 by Korea's JOO Sae Hyuk/OH Sang Eun.
Russia's doubles specialists Dimitrij MAZUNOV/Alexei SMIRNOV continued their campaign, taking the match against Petr KORBEL/Richard VYBORNY (CZE) 4-0.
Greece pair Kalinikos KREANGA/Panagiotis GIONIS had the full support of the home crowd, but it was not enough for them to claim a victory. They were beaten 4-1 by Japan's Akira KITO/Toshio TASAKI.
The third round of the Men's Doubles Olympic Table Tennis competition is on Wednesday, 18 August, at 13:00.
ONS ks/if/ct
PUT YOUR OPINION
| Chinese table tennis girls lock opponents in Olympic debut
Athens, 16 August 2004 (chinadaily.com.cn) - After two days of waiting, the all-mighty Chinese female paddlers finally locked their opponents in their debut matches at the Athens Olympics as the first two rounds of women's singles competition concluded Sunday in Athens.
In the last 32 playoffs, or the third round, scheduled for Tuesday, China's world No.1 Zhang Yining, Sydney Olympic double champion and world No.2 Wang Nan and world No.3 Niu Jianfeng will meet Li Chunli of New Zealand, Kim Yun Mi of the DPR Korea, and Elke Wosik of Germany respectively.
Li, Kim and Wosik beat Tawny Banh of the United States, Cecilia Otu Offiong of Nigeria and Lay Jian Fang of Australia respectively in Sunday's second round matches.
In other third round playoffs, Chinese Hong Kong's Lin Ling, Lau Sui Fei and Tie Yana will take on Adriana Zamfir of Romania, Svetlana Ganina of Russia, and Krisztina Toth of Hungary respectively. South Korea's Lee Eun Sil and Kim Kyung Ah will meet Zhang Xueling of Singapore and Tan Monfardini Wenling of Italy.
The remaining matches of the third round will take place between Mihaela Steff of Romania and Kim Hyang Mi of the DPR Korea, Liu Jia of Austria and Fujinuma Ai of Japan, Li Jiawei of Singapore and Petra Cada of Canada, Umemura Aya of Japan and Schopp Jie of Germany, Viktoria Pavlovich of Belarussia and Nanthana Komwong of Thailand, Tamara Boros of Croatia and Marina Kravchenko of Israel, Kim Hyon Hui of the DPR Korea and Jing Junhong of Singapore, and between Gao Jun of the United States and Fukuhara Ai of Japan.
It was quite a surprise that Germany's Nicole Struse, Romania's Otilia Badescu and Hungary's Csilla Batorfi all lost to their much lower ranked opponents from Thailand, Israel and Canada, who had to start playing from the very first round.
On the men's side, China's world No.1 Wang Liqin and world No.4 Wang Hao, both in the first half of the draw, had already found their opponents in their Olympic singles debut, or the third round matches for men's singles scheduled also for Tuesday.
Wang Liqin will meet Dutch veteran Trinko Keen, who eliminated German Torben Wosik in a fierce second round encounter ending 4-3, while Wang Hao will play German veteran Jorg Rosskopf, who outclassed Polish Tomasz Krzeszewski 4-1.
However, the third singles player of China, world No.2 Ma Lin had to wait for one more day to know who would be his third round opponent, as the men's singles second round still had eight more matches to play on Monday.
In other singles matches of the day, Ko Lai Chak of Chinese Hong Kong beat India's Sharath Kamal Achanta 4-0, Jorgen Persson of Sweden beat Nigeria's Monday Merotohun 4-1, Liu Song of Argentina beat Slobodan Grujic of Serbia and Montenegro 4-1, Chen Weixing of Austria beat William Henzell of Australia 4-0, Lin Ju of Dominica gave a 4-1 upset to Russia's Alexei Smirnov, and Peter Karlsson of Sweden walked tightrope to beat Yang Min of Italy 4-3.
The men's and women's doubles events of the tournament also played 16 matches of the first and second round here Sunday, but no seeded pairs would play until the third and fourth round scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
Due to their high seedings in all events, the nine Chinese players have enjoyed a bye for the first two rounds, which means they will have no match to play for the first two or three days of the Olympic tournament.
The first appearance of the Chinese paddlers has been scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday, when two Chinese pairs, Wang Nan/Zhang Yining and Guo Yue/Niu Jianfeng will play the fourth round of women's doubles.
The Chinese coaches had worried that the too-long waiting would affect the players' form in their opening matches at the tournament. Team sources said that the Chinese players had kept daily training of more than two hours in the past two days.
Meanwhile, most Chinese players could be seen at the competition venue, the Galatsi Olympic Hall in northwest Athens, Sunday evening, but not here to play on the court, but to watch on the spectators stands.
"They want to know who they will meet in the next round as early as possible, and they also need to study their opponents," team sources said.
PUT YOUR OPINION
| Men's Singles Second round : One surprise, defenders still alive
ATHENS, 15 August - Dominican Republic player LIN Ju caused the biggest surprise of the Men's Singles tournament when the number 137 world ranked player beat Russian player Alexei SMIRNOV 4-1 today. SMIRNOV, ranked number 25 in the world, lost against the defending style LIN.
In other matches, KO Lai Chak (HKG) took his match 4-0 easily against Sharath Kamal ACHANTA (IND), while Slobodan GRUJIC (SCG) was beaten by the defence style playing LIU SONG from Argentina 4-1.
Trinko KEEN (NED) beat the 2003 European Championship runner-up Torben WOSIK (GER) in the longest and closest match of the round 4-3.
Jorgen PERSSON (SWE), the 1991 World Champion, took his match 4-1 after having some starting problems against Monday MEROTOHUN (NGR).
CHEN Weixing, the Austrian defender, won easy against the Australian William HENZELL 4-0.
Germany's Jorg ROSSKOPF, the bronze medallist from Atlanta 1996, lost the first game, but with his experience he took the next four games and beat Tomasz KRZESZEWSKI (POL) 4-1.
Peter KARLSSON (SWE), the doubles World Champion of 1991, beat the Italian YANG Min in a dramatic match 4:3.
ONS ks/if/sad
PUT YOUR OPINION
| Honduran loses replay
ATHENS, Aug 15 (SKY SPORTS By Alastair Himmer)- Once famous for bursting into tears when she lost a table tennis match, the Olympic experience is helping Japan's Ai Fukuhara to grow up.
Honduras' Izzwa Medina has lost her replayed match against Jordan's Zeina Shaban in the Olympic table tennis.
Medina, who was kicked out of the event for using a non-approved bat to beat Shaban in their first match, lost 4-3 to the Jordanian second time around.
Officials had given Medina another opportunity after it emerged that her bat had been cleared before the match.
"I've played with this racket for 10 years and then yesterday they say the pimples are wrong," she said.
Meanwhile, 42-year-old Chinese-born Kiwi Li Chunli, competing for New Zealand, booked a meeting with former compatriot and world number one Zhang Yining.
Zhang, and countrywomen Wang Nan and Niu Jianfeng, are the top three seeds in the singles at Athens, while compatriots Wang Liqin and Ma Lin are the top two in the men's draw.
After winning all singles and doubles events at the past two Olympics, the Chinese team are the hot favourites in all four events but Li said she had a chance to beat Zhang.
"They [Chinese players] always win so it's very hard and they win because they have very good technique," Li said after beating American Tawny Banh 4-1 in the second round.
"But this time I'm looking to win and I have been training very hard. They are also human. They are not Gods. If they do not play well, they can also get nervous."
In other second-round action, Thailand's Nanthana Komwong's pulled off a shock 4-1 win over Germany's Nicole Struse.
"This is the best win of my career," said Komwong, ranked 54 places below Struse at 84.
PUT YOUR OPINION
| | Olympics-Table tennis-Chinese diaspora take stage in singles
ATHENS, Aug 14 (SKY SPORTS By Alastair Himmer)- Once famous for bursting into tears when she lost a table tennis match, the Olympic experience is helping Japan's Ai Fukuhara to grow up.
A child celebrity since she could hold a ping-pong bat, the 15-year-old was overwhelmed by the scale of the Athens Games at Friday's opening ceremony.
"I kind of wanted to hide behind the volleyball players," said Fukuhara. "But when I saw all the people from all around the world, I felt like I wanted to be part of it."
Fukuhara, known in Japan as "Ai-chan" -- or Little Ai, was a regular on television variety shows at an age when she was barely tall enough to see over the net.
She would frequently throw tantrums if she lost to grown-up studio guests and her mood would only improve if they let her win the next game.
However, Fukuhara has graduated from a cuddly figure of fun to a respected player, reaching the quarter-finals of the singles at last year's world championships in Paris.
She has been taking her Olympic preparations extremely seriously, meticulously regulating her diet to the extent that she fussily picked off the fatty bits from her prosciutto ham during training in Mantua, Italy.
"These days I'm at the stage where I feel like I should be winning matches," said Fukuhara, who plays her opening match of the Olympic singles on Sunday.
"After the Olympics, I don't want to think I should have done this or that. I want to give everything I've got -- and more."
PUT YOUR OPINION
| Olympics-Table tennis-Chinese diaspora take stage in singles
ATHENS, 13 August - Austria's Werner SCHLAGER, winner of the Men's Singles event at the last World Championships in Paris in May 2003, commented on the competition after training today and last night's draw.
On the road to success in the Olympic Games: "In the Olympic Games you have to step round by round."
On his first match in the round of 32: "The first match is important to start well in the tournament."
On his possible encounter against Germany's Timo BOLL in the round of 16: "BOLL has not played in many International Tournaments and I cannot judge in what shape he is at this moment. He was just practising in Germany without see him during the last months. In any case he will be a very difficult opponent."
PUT YOUR OPINION
| Olympics-Table tennis-Chinese diaspora take stage in singles
ATHENS, Aug 13 (SKY SPORTS By Paul Eckert) - Six expatriate Chinese men and women will take to the stage in round one of the Olympic table tennis singles on Saturday and are expected to narrow the field before China's top-seeded players join the fray. The Chinese-born exports represent three continents, underscoring and extending Chinese dominance of the sport.
In the men's singles Argentina's Liu Song will take on Shu Arai of Japan, Yang Min of Italy will met Vietnam's Doan Kien Quoc and Lin Ju of the Dominican Republic will face Ryo Yuzawa of Japan. Australia's Miao Miao will meet Peru's Marisol Espinera in the women's singles, while Lay Jianfang, also of Australia, will take on Croatia's Cornelia Vaida and Wu Xue of the Dominican Republic will face Russia's Oksana Fadeeva.
The heavily favoured Chinese big guns -- men Ma Lin, Wang Liqin and Wang Hao and women Zhang Yining, Wang Nan and Guo Yue -- do not appear on the stage at Galatsi until later rounds on Monday.
Under new rules in Athens, each country's two doubles pairings must play in the same half of the draw, thus ruling out the all-Chinese finals seen in both the men's and women's doubles at the 1996 and 2000 Games.
Thursday's draw set up potential men's semi-final showdowns pitting Chen Qi and Ma Lin against Wang Hao and Sydney double gold medallist Kong Linhui.
The women's doubles semi-finals could see Guo Yue and Niu Jianfeng take on Wang Nan and Zhang Yining.
PUT YOUR OPINION
| Olympic draw taken place
ATHENS, ittf.com - China’s WANG Liqin and ZHANG Yining head the respective Athens Olympics men’s and women’s singles draws, with their compatriots MA Lin and WANG Nan the respective number two seeds.
If everything goes according to seeding WANG Liqin is due to face local Greek hero Kalinkos KREANGA in the quarter finals and Chinese teammate WANG Hao in the semi finals, but although WANG Liqin is probably the best player in the world against fellow Chinese, he sometimes gets nervous against Europeans. The all-action KREANGA with the crowd behind him could cause WANG some anxiety, but first the Greek will have to dispose of the one former world champion who has not won an Olympic medal, Jörgen PERSSON (Sweden), in the last 32.
Former 1992 Olympic champion Jan-Ove WALDNER, now 38, is drawn to play 2nd seed MA Lin, against whom he has a poor record, in the last 16, but when the odds are stacked against him the gifted WALDNER has produced some of his best performances. The winner is likely to face either current world champion Werner SCHLAGER (Austria) or former world no.1 and European champion Timo BOLL (Germany), who face a titanic, evenly matched, all-European clash with each other in the last 16. Should SCHLAGER and MA, both win, then SCHLAGER will take some confidence that he beat MA in the last World Team Championships in Doha, Qatar this year.
The 3rd men’s singles seed is Korean RYE Seung Min who is drawn in the same quarter as possibly Europe’s highest medal hope, former world no.1Vladimir SAMSONOV from Belarus.
Europe’s greatest hope in the women’s singles, Tamara BOROS (Croatia), who has never been European champion, faces European champion Otilia BADESCU (Romania) in what promises to be another enormous battle in the last 32 of the women’s singles. However, the winner will be in the same quarter as top seed ZHANG Yining! In the same half the best women’s defender in the world, KIM Kyung (Korea) has her worst nightmare in being drawn to meet perhaps the best hitter against chop in the world, GAO Jun (USA), a short pimples penholder. But first the 35 year old GAO will have to defeat the rising teenaged star from Japan, Ai FUKUHARI.
WANG Nan, the second seed, should play a former Chinese team-mate LIN Ling (Hong Kong) in the last 16. At the same stage of the same half, the third seed NIU Jianfeng (China) is due to clash with the gifted but unpredictable left-hander from Romania, Mihaela STEFF. In the previous round NIU will have to have defeated German Eke WOSIK, who has a good record against Chinese.
PUT YOUR OPINION
| Two Koreas Prepare for Joint Table Tennis Training
ATHENS, Aug. 11 (yonhapnews.co.kr) -- Table tennis players from South and North Korea will have a joint training session on Thursday morning (local time), South Korean sports officials said.
It will be the first time that Olympic players from the two Koreas hold a joint training.
| Chinese TV puts a new spin on table tennis
ATHENS, 10 August - As well as the talents of its Table Tennis players being on show, China will be showcasing technology at Galatasi Olympic Hall that will revolutionise coverage of the sport.
Chinese television network CCTV will be introducing high speed cameras, so precise they will show extreme rotations of the ball.
Given a nine-camera coverage, together with special effects, the many millions of followers of the sport in China will see their favourite sport as never before.
ONS ks/if/is/dlf
| Chinese suspicious of table tennis rule changes
(© 2004, Daily Times, Pakistan, by Reuters) ATHENS: Much has changed in table tennis since the last Olympics in Sydney and the all-conquering Chinese are suspicious.
The sport has been effectively annexed by the Chinese at recent Games – Chinese women have won seven of the eight gold medals on offer since table tennis was introduced at the 1988 Seoul Olympics while their men have won six titles. However, in the last four years table tennis games have been cut to first-to-11 from first-to-21, service rules have been finessed and the ball has been increased in size.
The changes, viewed with disquiet by many Chinese players and officials, are aimed at speeding up the game and making it more televisual. But new qualification rules for the Games in Athens were one step too far for the sport’s dominant nation. Each country is allowed two doubles pairings who must play in the same half of the draw thus ruling out the all-Chinese finals seen in both the men’s and women’s doubles finals in the 1996 and 2000 Games.
Head Chinese coach Cai Zhenhua said the changes meant he could “guarantee” winning just two of the four gold medals up for grabs in Athens, and he was particularly concerned about the men’s side of the draw. “ITTF doesn’t want to see an all-mighty Chinese team and so they keep changing the rules to stop China,” he told a Chinese newspaper.
Scoring system: The diameter of the ball was increased to 40 millimetres from 38 shortly after the Sydney Games, a move the ITTF estimated would cut the speed of the ball by up to eight percent and the spin imparted by up to 13 percent.
A year later the age-old scoring system was revamped so that matches were decided on a first-to-11 points, best-of-seven-games principle. This change had an immediate effect on the game, triggering a series of upsets. Players had to scrap their five-service routines and adapt to having just two services and their whole psychological approach to the game had to be restructured.
Quick starters had a huge advantage in a game that had turned, in the words of one Korean player, into a lightning war from a protracted conflict.
Top players, used to being able to coast through a match against a lower-ranked player, now had to concentrate throughout and get used to losing a few games. “Every point was key, every point was like a deuce,” said China’s Wang Nan, a double gold medallist in Sydney, after the 2001 Korean Open.
“In the final I led by four or five points in the opening game and thought it was over. I turned my thoughts to the second game and (her opponent) stole the first. In the second, even when I was leading 9-1, I still felt nervous.”
Service action: As if this change was not disruptive enough, players have had to learn to abide by new service rules which have made the delivery completely visible to the receiver and spectator. Players’ contortions to hide the spin being imparted on a ball at service had reached almost laughable proportions and the game’s ruling body decided to act in 2002.
| Li 'forced' to reveal her birthday wish
(© 2004, Singapore Press Holdings) by Marc Lim,
 LI JIAWEI is used to keeping her birthday wishes a secret. A meeting with two Ronalds, McDonald (left) and Susilo, but it is Li Jiawei (right) who gets the birthday cake at Changi Airport last night.
But yesterday, the Athens Olympics-bound table tennis player had little choice but to reveal her wishes after she was surprised with a cake during Team Singapore's official send-off at Changi Airport. With over 100 well-wishers present, including cabinet members Minister for Defence Rear-Adm (NS) Teo Chee Hean, also the President of the Singapore National Olympic Council, Minister for the Environment Lim Swee Say, who is also the Singapore Badminton Association president and Minister of Community Development and Sports Yaacob Ibrahim, the National Day birthday girl revealed her secret.
She said: 'First, I want to wish Singapore a happy 39th birthday. And second, I hope all the Singapore athletes do well.'
Six other athletes also left for Athens last night - table tennis team-mates Zhang Xueling, Jing Junhong, Tan Paey Fern, Li's badminton player beau Ronald Susilo, and his team-mates Li Li and Jiang Yanmei.
| Samsonov wins Olympic warm-up
(© 2004, BBC Sport) European champion Vladimir Samsonov had the perfect preparation for the Olympic Games with victory in the Ocean International Cup in Croydon.
The Belorussian defeated German number one Timo Boll 9-11 11-9 11-6 11-8 11-9.
In the earlier semi-finals, Samsonov disposed of the Greek player Kalinikos Kreanga, and Boll saw off Chen Weixing of Austria.
"With Athens only three weeks away I'm delighted to win here," said Samsonov. "Also the money will be useful."
| Li Jiawei returns after overseas win
(© 2004, MCN International Pte Ltd, by Johnson Choo, Channel NewsAsia) SINGAPORE: Li Jiawei, Singapore's top table-tennis player, looks to be in top form for the Olympics, having just returned from another overseas win.
The 23-year-old paddler won the women's singles title at the International Table Tennis Federation's US Open in Chicago.
The tournament for professionals saw the Singapore paddler beat Croatia's Tamara Boros 4-3 in the final.
She said: "While winning the title just before the Olympic Games is a morale booster, it also puts pressure on me. But I'll review my weaknesses and hope to perform well in the Olympics." - CNA
| Li sisters for Athens
(© 2004, New Zealand Herald) Experience is the least of Li Chunli's concerns as the New Zealand table tennis player prepares for the Athens Olympics in August.
She and sister Karen were yesterday confirmed as this country's table tennis representatives for the Games. Li will contest the singles and partner her sibling in the doubles.
It will be Li Chunli's fourth Olympic campaign.
Li Chunli had an extraordinary time at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002, winning an individual gold medal, teaming with Karen for a silver medal in the women's doubles, and then with Peter Jackson for a bronze medal in the mixed doubles.
| Qualification complete
(www.ittf.com) The Final World Qualification competition held in Austria concluded by adding three more men and three more women to complete the list of 64 men and 64 women qualified for the Singles Event at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
Men qualified through the Final Qualification event:
1. LEUNG Chu Yan (HKG), 2. KEEN, Trinko (NED)
1st alternate: FENG Zhe (BUL), 2nd altrenate: MONDELLO, Massimilliano (ITA), 3rd alternate: ELOI, Damien (FRA), 4th alternate: BENSTEN, Allan (DEN), 5th alternate: TOKIC, Bojan (SVN), 6th alternate: GARDOS, Robert (AUT)
Men qualified through the Tripartite Commission invitation event: MILICEVIC, Srdan (BIH)
Women qualified through the Final Qualification event:
1. ERDELJI, Silvija (SCG), 2. HUANG, I-Hua (TPE), 3. STEFANOVA, Nikoleta (ITA)
1st alternate: GARKAUSKAITE-BUDIENE, Ruta (LTU), 2nd altrenate: JONSSON, Susanne (SWE), 3rd alternate: PAN Li-Chun (TPE), 4th alternate: LI Yun Fei (BEL), 5th alternate: SAFRAN, Martine (SVN)
Full results available on www.ittf.com.
| Favourites shivering
Lausanne, Switzerland, 30 November 2003 (www.ittf.com)
Some of the favourites were lucky that they had more than one opportunity at the European Olympic Qualification in Luxemburg, finishing on Sunday. No. 40 in the World Patrick CHILA (FRA) only qualified in his third attempt – beating his compatriot Damien ELOI in the final match for the last ticket to Athens.
The European Qualification was played in a special format, practically with a new tournament starting each day. The two best from 16 groups advanced to the 1st stage on Friday from where 4 players qualified. On Saturday a new tournament with the players who did not qualify on Friday – and again 4 qualifiers. On Sunday once more a new tournament with 3 qualifiers. In the 1st stage of the Men’s Qualification Petr KORBEL (CZE) was the only one of the highest ranked players who made it through to Athens. Jorg ROSSKOPF (GER) lost 4-3 to Slobodan GRUJIC (SCG) and Jorgen PERSSON (SWE) lost to Aleksander KARASEVIC (SCG). Trinko KEEN (NED) had the chance as well but he lost to Lucjan BLASZCZYK (POL), and KEEN never got back on track – he did not qualify. PERSSON and ROSSKOPF however, secured their Olympic participation in the 2nd stage – together with Tomasz KRZEZEWSKI (POL) and Adrian CRISAN (ROU). On Sunday YANG Min (ITA), HE Zhiwen (ESP) and, as mentioned, Patrick CHILA took the last 3 Olympic positions. In the Women’s Qualification LIU Jia (AUT) also had to wait till day 2 before she could book her trip to Athens. In the 1st stage she lost to Cornelia VAIDA (ROU). In the 2nd stage however LIU Jia went through by beating Adriana ZAMFIR (ROU) in the deciding match. Elke WOSIK (GER) also knows what to do in August 2004. She qualified already in the 1st stage by beating Svetlana GANINA (RUS) who eventually took of the 3 remaining places on Sunday.
|
|
