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Waldner and Persson Ousted in First Round of doubles
Ninth seeds Jan-Ove Waldner and Jorgen Persson was ousted by Hong Kong pair in the men's doubles opener at the world table tennis championships Monday.
The Swedish duo, who suffered a shock defeat to Belgium in the team semi-finals in their defense of the title, received yet another blow losing to Li Ching and Ko Lai-chak 15-21, 22-24.
"We knew before that it would be a difficult match for us. This right-handed player (Li) was in my club before in Sweden a half of a year, so I know him very well," said Waldner after the 23-minute match.
Waldner, gold medalist in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, said he have not played together with Persson since the Sydney Olympic Games.
The 35-year-old Waldner, hoping to win one more world title after taking the silver medal in the Sydney Olympics, will now concentrate on winning the singles title he won in 1989 and 1997.
"It starts tomorrow, so we will see. My shape is very good, so I hope to play good in the singles," said Waldner, who was drawn in the same quarter with his Sydney Olympic nemesis, China's Kong Linghui.
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