|
 |
| Chinese ping-pong veteran Ma Lin in action to stop Greek Kalinikos Kreangaat the
men's singles final of the table tennis World Cup held in
Xiaoshan, Zhejiang Province, East China. [Xinhua] |
HANGZHOU, Zhejiang Province: China's Ma Lin scored a World Cup championship hat-trick on Sunday
while Chinese women's players continued to dominate with their eighth World Cup
title.
Defending champion Ma repeated his come-from-behind victory of 2003,
posting a 4-2 win against Kalinikos Kreanga of Greece, whom he also
defeated in the 2003 World Cup. This is Ma's third cup. His first was in
2000.
In the women's final, world No 1 Zhang Yining followed her impressive
performance at the Athens Olympics, dethroning her older-teammate and defending
champion Wang Nan in a 4-2 victory during an all-Chinese final.
Kreanga made it to the men's final after overpowering Joo Se-hyuk of
South Korea 4-2 while Ma advanced earlier after a lop-sided 4-0 victory
over younger compatriot Wang Hao, the Athens Olympic finalist.
The first set of the final went like last year, as Ma got a big scare
and lost the opening set without much resistance. It took Ma some time to
find his game, trailing 1-2 after three sets. Then he began to get back on
track, winning decisive points in the following sets.
"I did not feel very well at the start. But I was always confident that
I have an advantage over him on my skills. Anyway, I won many times
against Kreanga," said Ma.
In the men's bronze medal match, Wang got off to a comfortable start
after beating Joo in a seven-set thriller.
"I am satisfied with Ma's performances in the tournament. His form is
good and he did a very good job in controlling the match," said Chinese
men's head coach Liu Guoliang.
 The women's final had no suspense as Olympic champion Zhang and
Wang's respective both scored semi-final victories against Tie Yana of
Hong Kong and Li Jia Wei of Singapore on Saturday. They secured China
another cup title before playing the final. The Chinese women have won the
previous seven cup titles with Wang taking three and Zhang winning two.
Zhang was nervous right into the match and trailed 3-9 in the first
set. But the 23-year-old came back strongly and won the gripping first
set.
Wang Nan took one set back but continued to struggle, failing to deal
with Zhang's high speed and power.
Zhang said winning against her fellow paddler, who has won most of their previous
encounters, was not a matter of skill.
"It is always difficult to play Wang Nan. She is one of the best players in the world," Zhang said. "The skill is not
the point to win the match. It is more important for me to keep my
mind on the match and not to think about too much
else."
(China Daily) | 
Updated: 2004-11-01 09:43