 |
Table Tennis: China, Sweden Move Closer to Fight of Titans
World top-ranked Wang Liqin dropped a match in China's 3-1 win over Germany Friday as defending champions Sweden waltzed into the last four in style.
German Timo Boll upset ITTF Pro-Tour champion Wang and gave a hard time to world No 2 Kong Linghui as China beat Germany to reach the men's team semifinals of the World Table Tennis Championships.
Boll, ranked 32nd in the world, used his lethal forehand attacks to humiliate Wang in the second game, 21-19, 22-20, before he lost to "King" Kong 19-21, 16-21 in the fourth game.
Olympic champion Kong employed consistent topspin strokes from both wings, beating former World Cup champion Jorgen Rosskopf 21-19, 21-11 in the fourth game, after Liu Guozheng trounced German veteran Peter Franz 21-12, 21-13.
"Boll was aggressive and clever," said the Chinese Table Tennis Association vice chairman Zhang Xielin. "He took the initiative in attacking and didn't give Wang much chance."
The Swedes, who blanked the Austrians 3-0 in the quarter-finals, see Wang Liqin as a possible weak spot if they meet China in the final.
"He has lost before and might be having a few problems," said Sweden's Fredrik Hakansson.
"It is good to see they can also lose, at least it's not always 3-0."
For the Sweden-China final to materialize, Sweden must beat Belgium in their semi-final Saturday, with China facing South Korea.
While the South Koreans hang on to a 3-2 win over France, the Belgians only dropped a single match to beat Italy 3-1.
South Korean Oh Sang Eun won two games and world No 9 Kim Taek Soo lost as many.
Ryu Seung Min who limped off the court after beating Damien Eloi in the third game was given an acupuncture treatment by one of the South Korean medical staff.
However, team coach Ahn Jae Hyung was quick to point out the player will be fit for the semi-final.
"We think he should be all right. But we also need to look at Kim Taek Soo and try and identify the reasons for his two defeats.
"He should have at least won one match," he said.
Oh Sang Eun beat Jean-Philippe Gatien in the first match before overcoming Christophe Legout in the fifth.
In the other quarterfinal match, the Italians drew first blood when Yang Min beat Andras Podpinka in three games.
However, Jean-Michel Saive put the Belgians back on level terms before Martin Bratanov clinched another despite losing his first game to Valentino Piacenti.
In the fourth match, Saive beat Yang Min 19-21, 21-13, 21-11.
Saive added that the first match against Massimiliano Mondello was tough and against Yang Min it took him a while to get into the match.
"What is important is that we won. We will wait and see who our opponents are," he said.
In This Section
|