China eves win gold in TT
Monday, 18 August 2008
BEIJING, Aug 17 : China clinched the women's Olympic team table tennis (TT) title here Sunday, after fighting off a strong challenge from Singapore to win the final 3-0.
It was the 17th gold medal that China won at the Olympic table tennis competition since its national sport was introduced at the 1988 Seoul Games.
The star-studded Chinese women pushed, chopped and smashed, proving too powerful for Singapore before an enthusiastic crowd of more than 4,000, though both world number one Zhang Yining and veteran Wang Nan dropped a game.
Finishing second, Singapore won its first Olympic medal in 48 years since a silver by weightlifter Tan Howe Liang in 1960.
Wang, who is often slow in finding her rhythm, failed to take a lead but brushed aside Feng Tianwei 9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-6. The team title was the fourth Olympic gold for Wang, the most decorated player in table tennis.
The battle between Zhang and Beijing-born Li Jia Wei of Singapore was full of long rallies across the table, with Zhang winning 9-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-7. The singles and doubles gold medalist in Athens then paired with world champion Guo Yue, quickly finishing off Li and Wang Yue Gu 11-8, 11-5, 11-6.
Both China and Singapore had steamrolled over all before them with stunning victories since the start of the Olympic team table tennis tournament, which take the place of the doubles. They didn't meet each other until the final.
Chinese women, whose triumph seemed to have an air of inevitability, easily took down Hong Kong of China 3-0 in the semifinal, while Singapore slew a tenacious South Korea 3-2.
Meantime, Chinese gymnast Zou Kai won the men's floor exercise gold medal, the fourth gymnastics gold medal for host China, Sunday at the Beijing Olympics.
The 20-year-old, who was making his Olympic debut, won the gold medal at 16.050 points, after reigning world champion Diego Hypolito of Brazil and Olympic silver medallist Marian Dragulescu failed their routines.
Gervasio Deferr from Spain took the silver in 15.775 points, and the bronze went to Russia's Anton Golotsutskov, in 15.725 points.
Zou, entering the final in sixth place and low on the list of hopefuls for the gold, brought a surprise when he took to the floor as the fifth player and staged a strong performance on the difficulty of 6.7 points, the highest among the eight finalists.
"I do not think I am the black horse," said Zou Kai, adding that he believed he is strong enough for a gold and he is in good form in the competition.
"I entered the floor exercise final in first place in last year's World Championships, and I came home empty-handed only because I did not play my normal level in the final," he said.
"The team medal is very important to all of us and this medal is very important to me," he added.
Before Zou, Dragulescu, a three-time Olympian and the floor exercise silver medalist in Athens, sat on the mat after a tumbling combination.
Hypolito, known for having one of the most difficult floor exercise routines, also suffered a last-minute defeat when he fell back and sat on the floor at the end of his complicated routines.
It was the 17th gold medal that China won at the Olympic table tennis competition since its national sport was introduced at the 1988 Seoul Games.
The star-studded Chinese women pushed, chopped and smashed, proving too powerful for Singapore before an enthusiastic crowd of more than 4,000, though both world number one Zhang Yining and veteran Wang Nan dropped a game.
Finishing second, Singapore won its first Olympic medal in 48 years since a silver by weightlifter Tan Howe Liang in 1960.
Wang, who is often slow in finding her rhythm, failed to take a lead but brushed aside Feng Tianwei 9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-6. The team title was the fourth Olympic gold for Wang, the most decorated player in table tennis.
The battle between Zhang and Beijing-born Li Jia Wei of Singapore was full of long rallies across the table, with Zhang winning 9-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-7. The singles and doubles gold medalist in Athens then paired with world champion Guo Yue, quickly finishing off Li and Wang Yue Gu 11-8, 11-5, 11-6.
Both China and Singapore had steamrolled over all before them with stunning victories since the start of the Olympic team table tennis tournament, which take the place of the doubles. They didn't meet each other until the final.
Chinese women, whose triumph seemed to have an air of inevitability, easily took down Hong Kong of China 3-0 in the semifinal, while Singapore slew a tenacious South Korea 3-2.
Meantime, Chinese gymnast Zou Kai won the men's floor exercise gold medal, the fourth gymnastics gold medal for host China, Sunday at the Beijing Olympics.
The 20-year-old, who was making his Olympic debut, won the gold medal at 16.050 points, after reigning world champion Diego Hypolito of Brazil and Olympic silver medallist Marian Dragulescu failed their routines.
Gervasio Deferr from Spain took the silver in 15.775 points, and the bronze went to Russia's Anton Golotsutskov, in 15.725 points.
Zou, entering the final in sixth place and low on the list of hopefuls for the gold, brought a surprise when he took to the floor as the fifth player and staged a strong performance on the difficulty of 6.7 points, the highest among the eight finalists.
"I do not think I am the black horse," said Zou Kai, adding that he believed he is strong enough for a gold and he is in good form in the competition.
"I entered the floor exercise final in first place in last year's World Championships, and I came home empty-handed only because I did not play my normal level in the final," he said.
"The team medal is very important to all of us and this medal is very important to me," he added.
Before Zou, Dragulescu, a three-time Olympian and the floor exercise silver medalist in Athens, sat on the mat after a tumbling combination.
Hypolito, known for having one of the most difficult floor exercise routines, also suffered a last-minute defeat when he fell back and sat on the floor at the end of his complicated routines.