China Again Shut out of Men's Doubles Final of Asiad Table Tennis

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, October 08, 2002

China Again Shut out of Men's Doubles Final of Asiad Table Tennis

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China Shut out of Men's Doubles Final of Table Tennis

In another heavy blow to the Chinese table tennis team, both of its men's doubles pairs were shut out of the event final after losing to their South Korean opponents in the 14th Asian Games table tennis competition Monday afternoon.

South Korea's Kim Taek-soo/Oh Sang-eun crushed China's world champion Wang Liqin/Yan Sen 4-0, and Lee Chul-seung/Ryu Seung-min upset Kong Linghui/Ma Lin 4-1 in a surprising quick defeat for the powerful Chinese.

It was widely expected before the matches that at least one of the Chinese duos would make it into the final as China had boasted fairly good results in the men's doubles event.

"I'm very happy," said South Korean head coach Yoo Nam-kyu, who hugged or patted his players with great appreciation after the double win.

Yoo conceded that he didn't quite expect both of his pairs to triumph over the Chinese, but added that "we did know that we had the ability and also possibility to win".

Yoo, who as a national team player had beaten the Chinese in the men's team final and also clinched the singles gold at the 1986 Seoul Asiad, said that his team had seen a chance to repeat history again as "the conditions of the Chinese team had gone down these days".

China, which achieved title sweeps in the last two Olympics and also last year's world championships, has so far suffered one of the worst defeats since its participation in the regional Olympics in the 1970s.

In the five Asiad table tennis events already played, the Chinese, which went home with 6 golds in the previous Asian Games in Bangkok, had lost in the women's team final to DPR Korea and also been shut out of the final of the mixed doubles. The all-star Chinese players only managed to clinch the men's team title and earned a place in the women's doubles final scheduled for Tuesday.

"I can really do nothing about it," sighed Chinese head coach Cai Zhenhua after witnessing his players being thrown out of the match in less than 30 minutes.

The South Koreans, losing to China 0-3 in the men's team final just two days ago, took a sweet revenge on Monday as they had won three of the four encounters between players of the two sides in semifinals of both the men's and women's doubles events.

Earlier on Monday afternoon, South Korea's Lee Eun-sil/Seok Eun-mi overwhelmed China's Wang Nan/Guo Yan 4-2 to set up a clash with the Chinese pair Zhang Yining/Li Nan in Tuesday's women's doubles final.

Wang, the most crowned athletes in the Bangkok Asiad with four golds from team, singles, doubles and mixed doubles, had failed to make any contribution to her team at this Asiad.

After conceding two team points in the women's team final and losing a mixed doubles semifinal to a Chinese Hong Kong pair, Wangstill appeared totally out of form in Monday's match and for most of the time on court her performance was dominated by weak attacks, poor defense and unforced errors.

"What can I do when she was in such a shape," said a helpless Cai Zhenhua.

Commenting on their own defeats, Ma Lin and Kong Linghui said that they had adopted incorrect tactics from the very beginning, while Wang Liqin and Yan Sen conceded that they were not prepared enough for the hardness of the match, as well as their opponents' excellent performance on court.

Wang also claimed that his bat developed a crack during the intense match, and, quite incredibly, he didn't even had a replacement.

By beating the Chinese, the host players had secured their first table tennis gold at this Asiad. But they still had greater expectations.

Though Yoo declined to give any direct prediction on the outcome of Tuesday's women's doubles final, he hinted that his players would go all out for a second title.

"The Chinese players will be under great pressure as everyone expects them to win, but for my players, they can just feel relaxed," he claimed.

The Chinese team had set a goal of taking 4 to 5 golds at this Asiad, but now it seemed almost impossible for them to attain it, as they would continue to face strong challenges from the host players as well as other teams in the rest two singles events.

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China, South Korea to Meet in Women's Doubles Final

Chinese HK Pair Clinch Surprise Win in Mixed Doubles

China Shut out of Asiad Table Tennis Mixed Doubles Final

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