Men's Singles Medal Round
Chinese Take First Men's Singles Olympic Gold Medal
The contest for the men's singles gold medal came down to another battle between two athletes from China. This match pitted WANG Tao, ranked second in the world, against LIU Guoliang, the world's 6th best. The two battled through four challenging games, trading off wins. The fifth and deciding game was no contest. LIU dominated the entire time, opening the game with a 12:01 lead. He quickly defeated his teammate 21:06 to take the gold medal. This is the first time since table tennis was admitted as an Olympic sport in 1988 that a player from China has won the men's singles gold medal.
In one of the most exciting matches of the entire men's singles tournament, Germany's Joerg ROSSKOPF, ranked 5th in the world, challenged Petr KORBEL (CZE) for the bronze medal. The strong German jumped out to an easy win in the first game. Though winning the game 21:17, ROSSKOPF needed several long volleys to put the aggressive KORBEL away. There were perhaps more volleys in this match than in any other in the tournament. In the second game, ROSSKOPF led or was tied the entire time. Then, at the 19:18 volly, KORBEL smashed it past the surprised German. KORBEL took the next two points on ROSSKOPF's unforced errors to win the game. The third game was filled with lengthy volleys, with the two athletes battling for every point scored. Down the stretch, ROSSKOPF's confidence seemed to grow and he gained the advantage. He took the third game 21:18. KORBEL dominated the fourth game, leading until the very end when ROSSKOPF tied it at 19 points. ROSSKOPF went on to win the next two points to take the match and the bronze medal.
Final Results: Gold Medal Game -- LIU Guoliang (CHN) d. WANT Tao (CHN), 21:12, 22:24, 21:19, 15:21, 21:06; Bronze Medal Game -- Joerg ROSSKOPF (GER) d. Petr KORBEL (CZE), 21:17, 19:21, 21:18, 21:19.
"Right now I feel bad, bad, bad. I'm only disappointed that I'm fourth. But at the same time, I'm a lucky loser. I played really well. ROSSY (ROSSKOPF) was just a little luckier than me in the deciding moments," said Petr KORBEL (CZE) after losing the bronze medal to Germany's Joerg ROSSKOPF.
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