China overpowers, Germany upset

GUANGZHOU: China stormed over its hapless opponents at the World Team Table Tennis Championships here yesterday as powerhouse Germany was upset by aggressive Japan.

China's men took just under an hour to dispose of Austria, using the encounter to hone their formidable skills ahead of the Olympics on home turf later this year.

Germany, third at the last worlds, was outgunned by Japan, whose young charges fought back from one match down to stun the Europeans 3-1.

Teenage star Jun Mizutani said Japan had been relishing the chance to take on Germany, who is competing here without its champion, injured world No 5 Timo Boll.

"We have been training specifically to play Germany," said Mizutani who lost his first encounter before firing back to clinch the fourth for Japan.

"I was nervous during my first game, I made mistakes and played badly but in the fourth game I had so many tactics going around my head," Mizutani, 18, said.

German coach Richard Prause denied that Boll's absence caused its defeat, crediting Japan for being more aggressive than his team.

The win pushes Japan, 14th at the last championships, to the top of its group with one round of matches left to play before the finals kick off at the Guangzhou Gymnasium.

South Korea, runner-up at the last Worlds and confident of taking on mighty China, was tested in its group outing against Chinese Taipei before prevailing 3-1.

Hong Kong outgunned Singapore 3-1, the victory shoehorning the team to equal top of its group alongside the city-state. The victory was sweet for Hong Kong, still smarting over its loss to minnow Denmark the day before.

"Singapore is the strongest in our group and we beat them, yet we lose to Denmark, it's unbelievable," said Tang Peng, the hero for Hong Kong, who clinched a crucial two out of its three matches.

"Today, I kept my head, my concentration was total, I was focused and just gave my best," he said.

China's women, boasting the world's top four players, cruised into the quarterfinals with an easy victory over Sweden, as they gun for their eighth straight world team title.

Singapore and Hong Kong, considered the strongest chances of derailing the Chinese juggernaut, are also into the last eight after thumping the Ukraine and Thailand, respectively, 3-0 to finish top of their groups.

Japan, in contrast, found itself in a ferocious battle for the second day running, this time against a never-say-die France, before emerging with a 3-1 victory to also qualify.

In playoffs for the remaining quarterfinal spots, the Netherlands won a nailbiting 3-2 encounter with South Korea that lasted more than two hours and left players on both sides exhausted.

Austria downed the US 3-2 in another marathon match late yesterday, while Romania edged out Germany 3-2, sparking celebrations on the Romanian bench. Hungary overcame Croatia also 3-2 to make up the final eight.

AFP

(China Daily 02/28/2008 page24)