One match decides two different fates

BEIJING - Wang Liqin has won three singles gold medals at the World Table Tennis Championships but that was not enough to secure him a berth on the five-man Chinese squad for this month's Worlds' team event.

The 31-year-old, whose three singles titles at the Worlds are the most among active male players, was beaten by fellow veteran Ma Lin, 3-1, on Tuesday in the team's last tryout and that cost him a ticket on the flight to Moscow, where the Worlds serve off on May 23.

The veterans first teamed up on the world stage in 1999 at the Kuala Lumpur World Championships, where China lost to Sweden 3-2 in the finals. They have led the national squad to all the major team titles since, including four at the Worlds and one at the Beijing Olympic Games.