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Monday, March 06, 2000, updated at 11:08(GMT+8) Sports China Sweeps All Titles at Asian Olympic QualifiersWorld table tennis powerhouse China stayed in form by clinching all four titles at the COSCO 2000 Olympics Table Tennis Asian Qualifying Tournament which closed in Hong Kong on Sunday. After taming their teammates world and Olympic champions Liu Guoliang and Kong Linghui in straight sets Saturday in the men's doubles top-four group, Chinese number two pair Wang Liqing and Yan Sen, who ranked second in world championships in the Netherlands last year, continued their winning streak by trouncing Kim Taek Soo/Oh Sang Eun of South Korea 21-14, 19-21, 21-15 and Leung Chu Yan/Cheung Yuk of Hong Kong, China, 21-15, 17-21, 21-7. Wang and Yan got the men's doubles title with three straight wins against no loss, while Liu Guoliang and Kong Linghui ranked second with one win and two losses. Kim Taek Soo/Oh Sang Eun and Leung Chu Yan/Cheung Yu finished third and fourth, also with one win and two losses in the top-four group. Indian Subramanyam Raman, teamed with Baboor Chetan, ranked ninth and took away the last berth to enter the Olympic Games. In the women's doubles, reigning world runners-up Sun Jin and Yang Ying of China took the crown without dropping a set in the top-four group. They beat two South Korean duos Kim Moo Kyo/Ryn Ji Hye 21-14, 21-18 and Lee Eun Sil/Suk Eun Mi 21-18, 21-12. Kim Moo Kyo/Ryn Ji Hye ranked second with two wins and one loss,Chen Jing/Xu Jing of Chinese Taipei third with one win and two losses and Lee Eun Sil/Suk Eun Mi fourth with three losses. World champions Li Ju and Wang Nan from China, who were defeated by Lee Eun Sil/Suk Eun Mi in the first stage, finished fifth with three wins against no loss in Group B. The last two berths to Sydney went to Tsui Hsiu Li and Yu Feng Yin of Chinese Taipei, who ranked ninth in the tournament. China's Liu Guozheng and Sun Jin won the men's and women's singles titles in the tournament on Thursday. Some 100 competitors from 15 Asian countries and regions entered the tournament and vied for 11 men's singles and women's singles berths and six men's and women's doubles berths respectively. The six-day tournament featured four events -- men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles, which were played on a round robin format. Printer-friendly Version In This SectionBack to top |
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