 Total domination
By Tan Yingzi (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-23 10:29
In the world of Chinese women's table tennis, one gold is not enough. So it seemed at the Peking University Gymnasium yesterday, where the Chinese women players made a clean sweep of the Olympic medals at stake to satiate a thunderous home crowd. The final match saw defending Olympic champion Zhang Yining outplaying 2000 Sydney Olympic gold medalist Wang Nan 4-1 in about 45 minutes, with Zhang becoming the second female paddler after Deng Yaping to successfully defend the Olympic singles title. Reigning world champion Guo Yue, who lost to Wang in the semifinal, upset Li Jia Wei of Singapore 4-2 to take the bronze. China has always been dominant in its national sport. But it has swept all three medals only once before, in the women's singles event at the 1988 Seoul Games. In the gold medal match, Wang, 29, played aggressively to take the first game 11-8. Startled briefly, "poker-faced killer" Zhang remained calm and confident in the second game after trailing Wang 0-4 and won the game 13-11. She kept up the momentum to wrap up the next three games 11-8, 11-8, 11-3. "I did quite well today. I made a lot of improvement," Zhang, 26, said. "I handled the tough situation quite well when I lagged behind in the first and second sets." She was similarly cool about her win. "Four years ago, I was eager to win the title. Because I had maintained top form in the past years, I believed I could do well in this Olympics, so after I won the final today, I was not that excited," she said. Zhang now has four Olympic titles, a record she shares with Deng, Wang and diving diva Guo Jingjing. Happy with her second finish, Wang, 29, said she enjoyed every match of the Games this year. "I haven't found such good form in recent years. It's a perfect Games for me," Wang said after the final. "I had different ideas about the Olympics in 2000. It was my first Olympics and I was really happy to win the gold. But more titles later brought me more pressure and I felt very depressed. "I was under great pressure ... but after I beat Tie Yana of Hong Kong in the singles, I began to enjoy the game." "I am really relieved," Wang said. "I will take a rest for a few months and think about my future." Agencies (China Daily 08/23/2008 page3) |
