Men's Table Tennis Doubles Quarterfinals
French Duo Eliminated from Men's Doubles Tournament
It was a disappointing day for France's Jean-Philippe GATIEN. In the morning men's singles preliminaries, he was eliminated by Petr KORBEL (CZE). In the men's doubles quarterfinals Saturday evening, GATIEN and his partner, Damien ELOI, failed to advance to the semifinals thanks to the aggressive play of the German pair Steffen FETZNER and Joerg ROSSKOPF. The Germans swept the match 3-0. The match between the Chinese duo LU Lin and WANG Tao and KANG Hee-Chan and KIM Taek-Soo (KOR) was a real crowd-pleaser. The Chinese team won the first game convincingly, 21:12. But, the feisty Koreans battled their way to win the next two games. The fourth game was once again easily won by LU and WANG. The fifth and deciding game was a battle to the finish with the Chinese wrapping up the match with a 21:9 win.
Women's Table Tennis Doubles Quarterfinals
Chinese Dominate Today's Doubles Quarterfinal Matches
It was a duel between countries during the women's doubles quarterfinals Saturday night. Amidst chants of "China" and "Kor-e-a," DENG Yaping and QIAO Hong of China battled the Korean pair KIM Meo-Kyo and PARK Kyoung-Ae. At the same time on another court China's LIU Wei and QIAO Yunping dueled PARK Hae-Jung and RYU Ji-Hae of Korea. During the entire length of the matches fans for each side yelled louder and louder in an effort to outdo the other. Though offering tough competition, the Koreans proved no match for the strong Chinese teams.
In their quest to defend their 1992 Olympic gold medal, DENG and QIAO (CHN) used their championship form to chop, hit and loop their way to victory over Korea's KIM and PARK. DENG and QIAO quickly won the first game, but the Koreans battled back to a 21:19 win in the second game. The Chinese put the finishing touches on the match by winning the next two games.
The second China-Korea matchup featured a duel between LIU/QIAO (CHN) and PARK/RYU (KOR). The Chinese pair opened the contest with an easy 21:13 first-game win. The third game of the series proved to be the most exciting and challenging for both pairs. It was a game that saw the two tied many times and was characterized by long volleys. China took the win 22:20 and finished the match with a win in the fourth game. Women's doubles quarterfinals continue on 29 July.
GATIEN Eliminated from Men's Singles Competition
Jean-Philippe GATIEN's dreams of winning another Olympic medal were dashed this morning by the Czech Republic's Petr KORBEL. The Frenchman, ranked 9th in the world, was the 1992 Olympic silver medalist.
KORBEL set the tone for the match by jumping out to an early 21:13 first-game victory. In the second game of the match, KORBEL quickly accumulated a 10:03 lead. GATIEN fought back to tie it at 18:18, but KORBEL went on to win 21:19. The loss eliminated GATIEN from the men's singles competition.
Another top player struggled in today's preliminaries. Ranked No. 2 in the world, WANG Tao (CHN) needed three games to defeat Danny HEISTER (NED). After winning the first game 21:16, WANG struggled against his aggressive opponent in the second game. HEISTER eventually won by a 24:22 margin. WANG was back in command in the third game, winning 21:16.
In other preliminary matches, Joerg ROSSKOPF (GER), ranked 5th in the world, easily defeated Hiroshi SHIBUTANI (JPN) in two straight games. Jimmy BUTLER (USA) also advanced, defeating Tarik HODZIC (BIH) in two games.
"I played well against the defense," ROSSKOPF (GER) said. "It was my most difficult match. I'm happy with the way things went."
Women's Singles Field Cut in Half
The remaining 16 contenders in the women's singles bracket were whittled down to eight after today's exciting action. DENG Yaping (CHN), ranked No. 1 in the world, played a typically strong match against PARK Hae-Jung of Korea. She only struggled late in the third game as the players exchanged points three times. DENG held on to the lead and won the match 3-0.
Germany's Nicole STRUSE began her quest for the gold medal slowly, coming out sluggishly in the first game. Opponent TU Yong (SUI) gave the 12th-rated player in the world an early surprise, beating her 21:18 in the opener. That was a wake-up call for STRUSE, who rebounded to win three consecutive games and the match. The battle between Chire KOYAMA (JPN) and TU Jong-Sil (PRK) was fierce, lasting five games. KOYAMA took an early two-game lead in the match, only to lose the next two. Not letting the match escape her, KOYAMA played a brilliant fifth game, using strong serves and hard smashes to defeat her opponent, 21:16.
In a more controversial match, KIM Hyon (PRK), ranked 87th in the world, pulled the most stunning upset of the day, defeating seventh-ranked CHAI Po Wa of Hong Kong. KIM surprised spectators by winning the first two games. CHAI battled back to win the next game, 21:14. Down 20:21 in the fourth game, CHAI was assessed a penalty point for hitting the table, giving KIM the win and the match.
This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.
Return to the Olympic News Menu
Select another day:
Pre | July | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | August | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Post |
| More tickets were sold to the competitions of the 1996 Games than to any other Olympic Games or sports event in history. The 8.6 million ticket sales figures topped sales to the Los Angeles and Barcelona Games combined. |