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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.