Powerhouses open high at table tennis team worlds
Updated: 2008-02-25 10:15
GUANGZHOU - Structure to the table tennis world seems to remain stern in classifications as the traditional powerhouses of the sport all made flying start here on Sunday at their round-robin first matches of the world team championship.
 China's coach Liu Guoliang (1st left, front row) and his players prepare to leave after their first round match against Belgium in Guangzhou of South China on Sunday. China swept Russia 3-0. [Xinhua] |
Defending champions China met little resistance, beating Russia in the women's team opening round and Belgium in the men's without losing a game, while South Korea, Hong Kong of China, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Austria and Croatia all saw victories from both events.
For both the men's and women's team events, each 24 teams in four groups vie for eight berths to the knockout round of the world's championship division.
Liu Guoliang, head coach of the Chinese men's table tennis national team, surprised many to field teenager Ma Long first in the opening match against Jean-Michel Saive-led Belgium, ahead of world 1-2 Wang Hao and Ma Lin.
The 19-year-old Ma Long, however, did not let his tutor down and swept past Jean-Michel Saive, the elder one who firstly made his name to the table tennis world in 1990s, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4.
Wang Hao, who was late for the game but was not punished, eased past Philippe Saive 11-8, 11-9, 11-6 and Ma Lin beat Martin Bratanov 11-4, 11-6, 11-8.
Resting the reigning world champion Guo Yue in the opening match, the formidable Chinese women's squad enjoyed an easy 3-0 victory over Russia as world No. 1 Zhang Yining, Zagreb worlds runner-up Li Xiaoxia and "Grand Slam" veteran Wang Nan whitewashed much lower-ranked challengers Svetlana Ganina, Irina Kotikhina and Oksana Fadeeva.
"We made adequate preparations before the match and knew Russia would probably field two choppers," said Shi Zhihao, head coach of the Chinese women's national team. "Everything was under our control and I'm fully satisfied."
Chinese women will be physically challenged Monday with two matches in schedule, facing DPR Korea early in the morning and the out-of-class Croatian team late in the afternoon.
In Sunday's other encounters of the women's play, former Chinese Dang Ye Seo fought hard to help South Korea take down France 3-0, though both their No. 1 and No. 2 female players, Kim Kyung Ah and Park Mi Young, did not make the worlds squad after failing in the country's internal trial.
Dang, who just earned a nationality of South Korea last year and emerged as a new recruiter of the national team, thus came under the highlight. In her set against a determined Xian Yi Fang who fought to the very end, Dang, formerly known as Tang Na, was made to sweat but finally saw her full-set victory in the game between two China-born paddlers.
On the men's part, the much underestimated German side well set the tune with a strong start in Group C, letting down Russia led by former European champion Alexei Smirnov 3-1, though missing their top paddler Timo Boll.
The Euro team, which has long been regarded as the most promising side after the aged Swedish, had been deemed "totally another team" after the triple European champ Boll opted to skip the Guangzhou worlds to rest an injured knee before cracking a shot at this summer's Beijing Olympics.
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