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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, May 23, 2003

Impressive China Secure One Gold from Mixed Doubles

China stamped their domination in the sport of table tennis as they made sure of one gold from the mixed doubles at the 47th world championships Thursday.


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China stamped their domination in the sport of table tennis as they made sure of one gold from the mixed doubles at the 47th world championships Thursday.

China swept all the four semi-fnals places after Qin Zhijian and Niu Jianfeng pulled off a 4-3 victory over South Koreans Oh Sang Eun and Lee Eng Sil in the day's final match.

Chinese head coach Cai Zhenhua felt relieved at the result, knowing that the mixed doubles gold would be in doubt if Qin and Niu failed to win the game.

"Of the pairs which made the last four, Qin and Niu have the best chances to beat the Koreans," said Cai.

The traditional powerhouse are also within touching distance ofthe golds of men's and women's doubles, as China took three placesin the two events' semi-finals respectively.

China also moved a step closer to the remaining two golds as five Chinese players made the last 16 in the men's and women's singles apiece.

The only team that prevented the men's doubles from being an all-Chinese affair was the South Korean pair Oh Sang Eun and Kim Taek Soo, who advanced on a controversial decision.

The Asian Games champions met strong resistance from Cheung Yukand Leung Chun Yan of Hong Kong, China, who fought to a 3-3 tie inthe quarter-finals.

Oh and Kim led the deciding set 6-5 when the controversy set in,bringing the event to almost a half-hour halt.

Having returned the ball back to the other side, the Hong Kong team gestured to the umpire to stop the rally, thinking that the ball had touched the hand of a Korean player before touching the bat.

Having seen the Hong Kong player's move, Korean Oh Sang Eun intentionally put the ball out of play but the umpire confusingly ruled the rally in favor of the Korean team.

Despite the vehement protests from the Hong Kong coach, the umpire finally awarded the point to South Korea.

Hong Kong players refused to return to the arena, which led to their eventual disqualification from the event.

Cai, however, did not think that Oh and Kim could repeat their victory over China in last year's Asian Games.

"We've drawn lessons from the Asiad, knowing how to beat them," said Cai.


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