South Korea outplayed Hong Kong of China 3-0 in the men's table tennis
team semifinals of the Asian Games yesterday, setting up a title clash with
world champion China.
Cheung Yuk should have sent Hong Kong to a flying start, winning the first
set of the opening game against Oh Sang Eun and leading 2-1 after the third set.
But his momentum was just gone inthe last two sets, losing the game 3-2 (9-11,
11-7, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9).
Leading 9-8 in the fifth set, Cheung granted Oh a 9-9 tie with a mistake and
then lost a rally to get himself 9-10 down before losing the decider.
Olympic champion Ryu Seung Min put South Korea two up by beating Li Ching 3-2
(4-11, 13-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-9) and Lee Jung Woo crushed Leung Chu Yan 4-1
(11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8) in the third game.
Sunday's final will see the fourth straight championship clash between China
and South Korea. China had won the previous three encounters in 1994, 1998 and
2002.
