China Wins over Sweden in Euro-Asian Table Tennis Team Challenge

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, December 23, 2001

China Wins over Sweden in Euro-Asian Table Tennis Team Challenge

China which represented Asia claimed the victory at the inaugural Euro-Asia Men's Table Tennis Team Champions Challenge Saturday in Jinan.

China Wins over Sweden in Euro-Asian Table Tennis Team Challenge

China which represented Asia claimed the victory at the inaugural Euro-Asia Men's Table Tennis Team Champions Challenge Saturday in Jinan.

China, who fielded a strong team consisting of currently world number one Wang Liqin, No.3 Ma Lin and No.5 Kong Linghui, dominated the five-game match of the one-day event.

Their European counterparts represented by Sweden included the Olympic silver-medalist Jan-Ove Waldner, Peter Karlsson and Fredrik Hakansson.

With the best-of-five system and each game in the best-of-five-set rule, Wang Liqin overcame a staggering first set to win the opening game over the all-time great Waldner 9-11, 11-6, 13-11, 11-9.

China actually won the contest after Kong knocked off Karlsson 3-0 and Ma upset Hakansson 3-0. However, the contest did not finish as the sport's world governing body International Table Tennis Federation ruled that two more games are required when one team win the first three games.

Wang, triple gold medalist in team, single and doubles at this year's world championships, scored a hard-fought victory over Karlsson, 7-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-4, 11-9.

"I made some unforced mistakes in services as I am not used to larger ball during the competition. Fortunately, I won the game at last."

In a showdown between Olympic singles champion Kong and runner-up Waldner, Kong lost to the 36-year-old Swede 8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 8-11, 4-11.

"Both of the teams played to their form. We were lucky that we

snatched some chances while the Swedes lost some, especially in the first two games," said Chinese coach Ying Xiao.

"We lost to the best team in the world, we had nothing to complain. But we missed several decisive moments as Waldner in the first game and Karlsson in the second," said Peter Sterneborg,Sweden's national head coach.

It is the first time that the Chinese team clash with arch-rivals Sweden since the 40mm ball and the 11-point scoring system were introduced into the sport late last year.

The prize money for the winner is 80,000 U.S. dollars, with 40,000 for the losers while the fourth and fifth placers pocketed 5,000 each.

The competition, which was ratified by the ITTF last April, will be held every two years since 2001, with the first three editions in China.

Sweden Not Finished, Says National Head Coach