Big win in doubles is pointer to 5 crowns
6/5/2005 9:00
Shanghai Daily news
China snared two more golds at the 48th World Table Tennis Championships
yesterday, moving closer to a sweep of the five crowns. China has pocketed
three trophies during the tournament at Shanghai Grand Stage. A sweep of the
titles will also bring China's World Championships gold tally to a symbolic
100. Kong linghui/Wang Hao, the world No. 3 men's doubles pair, foiled German
duo Timo Boll and Christian Suss's attempt to claim Europe's first championship
since 1993 for the event, conquering them 4-1 (11-9, 11-3, 11-9, 6-11,
11-7). Top-seed Zhang Yining defeated her teammate Guo Yan 4-2 (5-11, 11-7,
11-7, 4-11, 11-8, 13-11), completing a women singles "grand slam" success of
winning the Olympics, the World Championship and the World Cup. Despite China's
long dominance in the world of table tennis, a sweep seemed dodgy on Wednesday
when the German pair kept the title race a cliff-hanger. They downed China's
Olympic champions and current world No. 1 Ma Lin/Chen Qi 4-1 in a
semifinal. The explosive Boll/Suss combination fully displayed their topspin
with venom in the semifinal while Ma/Chen lost their rhythm and
composure. The defeat also weighed on Chinese fans before yesterday's
final. Fortunately, Kong/Wang found a magic-bullet cure by keeping the
service return short. For kong, a 30-year-old veteran and former world No. 1,
and young star Wang, 22, the victory was a much-needed one. Kong was believed
set to retire soon after he and Wang flunked in the first round of men's doubles
at the Athens Olympics. China's strong reserve of up-and-coming stars also
seemed to point to his departure. But the Heilongjiang Province native didn't
give up and said he hoped to play until the 2008 Beijing Olympics. "The
cheering fans gave us a huge support," Kong, one of the favorites among Chinese
fans, told reporters after the match. "I will see whether I can participate in
the Beijing Olympics." Wang hao shrugged off his humiliating thrashing 0-4 by
Michael Maze of Denmark on Wednesday in men's singles. The women's singles
title proved too easy for Zhang, 23, who lost only three sets in the seven
rounds. Today is the last day of the tournament when finals of men's singles
and women's doubles take place.
|