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Olympic Table Tennis Recaps: 30 July (Day 11)

Men's Singles Quarterfinals

ROSSKOPF Wins in Exciting Match

After losing the first game, China's LIU Guoliang, ranked sixth in the world, came back strong. He defeated Canada's Wen HUANG in the next three games to advance to the men's singles semifinals.

In the most dramatic game of the evening, Germany's Joerg ROSSKOPF needed five games to defeat KIM Taek-Soo (KOR). Losing the first match, ROSSKOPF struggled in the second game, but eventually won 26:24. His confidence up, ROSSKOPF, amidst chants of "Rossy" from the crowd, quickly won the third game. KIM, the 1988 Olympic silver medalist in men's singles, charged back with quick chops and strong forehands to take the fourth game. In the fifth and deciding game, ROSSKOPF scored the first point, but soon fell behind. He fought back to tie the game at ten and built a small lead. KIM surged back to tie the game at 17. From that point, the two battled to six more ties and six match points. The German prevailed, taking a 26:24 win.

Petr KORBEL of the Czech Republic had a much easier time advancing to the semifinals. Ranked 31st in the world, KORBEL handed Jean-Michel SAIVE, third best in the world, surprise losses in three straight games.

In the final quarterfinal game of the evening, Vladimir SAMSONOV (BLR) earned an early two-game lead over WANG Tao (CHN), who is ranked second in the world. WANG came back strong to win the third game and was leading 17:13 in the fourth game when a power failure halted play for nearly 30 minutes. When play resumed, WANG held onto his lead and won the game, 21:15. Tied two games to two with WANG leading the fifth game 10:08, another power failure again stopped play. Once the lights came back on, WANG quickly went on to win the game and the match.

Final Results: LIU Guoliang (CHN) d. Wen HUANG (CAN), 09:21, 21:19, 21:16, 21:16; Joerg ROSSKOPF (GER) d. KIM Taek-Soo (KOR) 12:21, 26:24, 21:12, 16:21, 26:24; Petr KORBEL (CZE) d. Jean-Michel SAIVE (BEL), 21:10, 21:13, 21:19; WANG Tao (CHN) d. Vladimir SAMSONOV (BLR), 16:21, 16:21, 21:10, 21:15, 21:15.

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"KIM is a very great player. I have a very good relationship with him so it's not easy to beat him like this. And, it's not easy for him to lose like this. But, that's the way it is with sports. Someone has to win and someone has to lose," said Joerg ROSSKOPF (GER) after his defeat of KIM Taek-Soo (KOR) in the men's quarterfinals.


Women's Singles Semifinals

Women's Singles Players Advance to Medal Round

The contenders for a gold medal in the women's singles competition are set. Winning her match in three straight games, CHEN Jing (TPE), ranked third in the world, knocked off China's QIAO Hong, second best in the world. Teammates DENG Yaping (CHN) and LIU Wei (CHN) battled it out for the final spot in the gold medal game. LIU got the best of the world's No. 1-ranked player in the first game, winning 23:21. DENG came back strong in the next three games, winning all three and taking the match. She will face CHEN in the gold medal game on 31 July. LIU (CHN) will challenge QIAO (CHN) for the bronze medal.

Final Score: DENG Yaping (CHN) d. LIU Wei (CHN), 21:23, 21:17, 21:19, 21:09; CHEN Jing (TPE) d. QIAO Hong (CHN) 21:09, 23:21, 21:17.


Men's Table Tennis Doubles Medal Rounds

Chinese, Koreans take Men's Doubles Medals

The Chinese showed their world dominance in table tennis again today as two pairs from the country battled for the men's doubles gold medal. LU Lin and WANG Tao, 1992 Olympic doubles gold medalists, fought to defend their title against KONG Linghui and LIU Guoliang. KONG and LIU surprised the defending medalists by quickly building an 11:5 lead. In a volley at that point, WANG moved back to return the ball when he twisted his ankle. After a short rest, he was able to resume play, but the pair were only able to score three more points in the game, losing 8:21. They regained their composure in time to take the 2nd game. But, KONG and LIU were just too strong for their teammates. They won the next two games to take the match and the gold medal.

Korea took the bronze medal in today's men's double final round action. LEE Chul-Seung and YOO Nam-Kyu (KOR) seemed to be playing their best as they jumped out to a quick two-game lead over the German pair Steffen FETZNER and Joerg ROSSKOPF, 1992 Olympic men's doubles silver medalists. The tide seemed to be turning the way of the Germans in the third game as the pair ran up a quick 04:01 lead. Though the Koreans fought back, FETZNER and ROSSKOPF held the lead. Their stronghold began to slip at the 17:15 point in the game, when the pairs gave spectators an exciting rally filled with players standing away from the table to return the long lobs and quick, short chops. The Koreans won the point when ROSSKOPF committed an unforced error. The game was all Korean after that, as they seemed to find the confidence needed to comeback and win the game and the bronze medal.

Final Score: Gold - KONG Linghui/LIU Guoliang (CHN) Silver - LU Lin/WANG Tao (CHN), 21:18, 21:13, 21:19; Bronze - LEE Chul-Seung/YOO Nam-Kyu (KOR).

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"In a few days we'll be okay with (our loss) and will realize how well we did," said Steffen FETZNER (GER) after he and Joerg ROSSKOPF lost to Korea's LEE Chul-Seung and YOO Nam-Kyu in the men's doubles bronze medal match.


This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.


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