Former world champions Ma Lin and Wang Nan won the mixed doubles final
against newly-combined Lee Jung Woo and Lee Eun Hee on Thursday, adding a fourth
table tennis gold medal to China in the Doha Asian Games.
Ma and Wang, who won the mixed doubles title at the 2003 world championships
in Paris, wrapped up it 11-5, 12-10, 8-11, 19-17, 8-11, 11-8, after denying a
late comeback from the South Koreans.
Opening the third set with a 4-0 lead, the South Korean pair were outplayed
by a 5-1 run from the Chinese duo before they managed to recover it.
Again taking the lead on 7-6, Lee Jung Woo and Lee Eun Hee called a timeout
and returned on court with some precise play to pull back a set 11-8.
The fourth set, a sword-crossing tight game later turning out to be a crucial
one, saw the lead exchanged between the two sides.
Same scenes were repeated in the sixth set, as both committed some errors to
grant points to the rival side, but Ma and Wang kept a much sturdier mind and
won it 11-8.
Chinese coach Liu Guoliang called timeout when Ma and Wang held a game point
on 14-13 in the fourth set. The Chinese pair returned to take the set 19-17
after a string of spectacular rallies.
Lee and Lee had knocked out China's Ma Long/Guo Yan in quarters and
Singapore's Yang Zi/Li Jia Wei in semifinals.