Boll gave Wang a lesson

Day 2 Review

Saturday, November 2, 2002

ITTF Press Releases

The first upset in Jinan

Jinan, China, 1 November 2002. Zoran PRIMORAC (CRO) is only seeded nr. 3 in group 4, but on Friday he brought himself in the position to win the group by beating top seed Werner SCHLAGER (AUT) 4-2.

That was actually the first upset at the World Cup – until now the favourites have won each and every match. The match between PRIMORAC and Kalinikos KREANGA (GRE) on Friday evening will now decide everything in this group.
PRIMORAC immediately took control in the match against SCHLAGER. He went to 2-0 and later he had the lead 3-1 ad 8-3 in the 5th. Then he hesitated a little and SChlager came back to survive and take the game.

In the 6th however PRIMORAC again had the lead all the way, and he won 11-8 to take the match.

“Of course it was tough to lose the 5th after having the lead 8-3, but that is how I am playing at the moment. I play quite well but taking and losing points in series”, says PRIMORAC on his way back to the hotel to rest before this evenings deciding match.

Good start for Boll

Jinan, China, 1 November 2002. Young German Timo BOLL is playing his first World Cup, but until now he hasn’t shown any lack of experience. BOLL took the first place in group C winning his third match in a row, when he beat CHIANG Peng-Lung (TPE) 4-3.

CHIANG Peng-Lung took the first two games before BOLL found his road. He went to 3-2 before CHIANG evened the match at 3-3. The match went right to the end with BOLL winning the last game 11-9. BOLL had three match points but for the first time he seemed to hesitate a bit. However with a good service and a killing top spin he took the match home.
Now it is up to CHIANG Peng-Lung and Jean-Michel SAIVE (BEL) to decide this evening who should advance to the quarters together with BOLL.

A useless victory

Jinan, China, 1 November 2002. KREANGA won his first victory at the World Cup on Friday evening when he beat Croatian Zoran PRIMORAC 4-3 – but the victory was for no use. KREANGA ends up as nr. 3 in the group watching Werner SCHLAGER (AUT) and PRIMORAC advancing to the quarter finals.

The 3 players mentioned ended up in a tie, since PRIMORAC beat SCHLAGER, SCHLAGER beat KREANGA and KREANGA beat PRIMORAC. Counting the games however SCHLAGER wins group 4 with PRIMORAC as second.
PRIMORAC had a big chance to win the group. He had the lead 3-1 against KREANGA but even though already then KREANGA knew that he could not qualify, he kept fighting, and he came back to 3-3. That broke down PRIMORAC, and KREANGA won easily the 7th and decisive game.

“Of course it is a pity, that the victory was not enough, but honestly I don’t feel that strong at the moment – too much travel and tournaments and to little practice”, says Kalinikos KREANGA.

In group 3 Timo BOLL was already safe on the 1st place, and CHIANG Peng-Lung took the other place in the quarters beating Jean-Michel SAIVE (BEL) 4-1. It wasn’t easy however – SAIVE never gives up and most of the games were close. In the 5th SAIVE had 4 games points at 10-6, but this time it was CHIANG’s turn to fight back and win the game and the match.

Kim missed his chance

Jinan, China, 1 November 2002. KIM Taek Soo had a place in the quarter finals at the World Cup reserved for him – but he forgot to book it.
In the last match in group 2 against KONG Linghui (CHN) he had the lead 3-2 and 7-3 but suddenly everything fell apart for him.

KONG went to 8-7 and took the game and in the 7th KIM never had the lead. KONG won it 11-8 to take the match.
During the match KIM was profiting from KONG making series of easy mistakes, but at the end when the match was on the edge, KONG did not make even one mistake.

Now KONG goes to the quarter finals from group 2 together with compatriot MA Lin.

In the last match in group 1 matters were solved already after two games. OH Sang Eun (KOR) won them against CHUAN Chih-Yuan (TPE) and with those two games OH was already sure to win the group with WANG Liqin (CHN) second.

CHUAN however did his best to take a single victory before going home. He came back to 2-2, it was 3-3 and at the end the young CHUAN played very well to take the last game 11-8.

Boll against Wang

Jinan, China, 1 November 2002. The draw for the World Cup quarter finals ended up with some very interesting matches.
Korean OH Sang Eun who showed great form in group 1 beating World Champion WANG Liqin (CHN) will meet Olympic Champion KONG Linghui (CHN).

KONG doesn’t seem to be at his maximum right now, so a well playing OH has a good chance.
4th seeded Werner SCHLAGER got a good draw, considered the possibilities. He will face CHIANG Peng-Lung (TPE) who like KONG seems to be far from his top form.

Young German Timo BOLL now gets the chance to show how much he has improved during the last year. BOLL’s opponent in the quarter finals is World’s nr. 1 WANG Liqin. BOLL actually beat WANG once before – in the team event at the World Championships 2001 – now it is time to see if the German can challenge the Chinese.

Zoran PRIMORAC (CRO) will not be happy with his draw. He is facing MA Lin (CHN) who seems invulnerable – and PRIMORAC has a very bad record against the Chinese. Last time he lost to him was at the Dutch Open last week.

Kong took out one more Korean

Jinan, China, 2 November 2002. Olympic Champion Kong Linghui (CHN) was on the edge of losing to a Korean for the second day in a row, but once more he played at his best when he really needed it, and he survived the quarter final against OH Sang Eun (KOR).
Yesterday KONG beat KIM Taek Soo (KOR) in spite of a big Korean lead.

On Saturday KONG came out as a lion and went to 2-0 before OH woke up. The Korean came back to 2-2 and in the 5th he took the lead 6-2. Then KONG rose to the occasion. He caught OH at 7-7 and took the game.
In the 6th game OH had two games points but again KONG played excellently when he needed it, and he eventually took the match winning the game 14-12.

In the semi-finals later on Saturday KONG will meet Werner SCHLAGER (AUT). The Austrian made a remarkable come back in his quarter final against CHIANG Peng-Lung (TPE). SCHLAGER was down 3-0 but he turned the match around and won 4-3.

“In the first games I did not rely on my backhand, and playing backhand to backhand is the way to beat a penholder like CHIANG. First my backhand was going I was playing better and better, and I made him play worse and worse”, says SCHLAGER.

Boll gave Wang a lesson

Jinan, China, 2 November 2002. Young Timo BOLL of Germany on Saturday showed that he is now more than ready to challenge the Chinese. In front of a silent Chinese crowd he gave World Champion WANG Liqin a lesson that he won’t forget for while.

Only in the 1st game WANG was close and when BOLL had won that, the German could walk on water. No matter what WANG tried – guided by former World Champion, LIU Guoliang, on the bench – BOLL had a powerful answer.
The German simply had so much speed in his game that WANG couldn’t follow him.

“That was almost perfect – no it was perfect. I can’t play better than that. It meant a lot that I have won before (at the World Championships last year), and first I was at the table everything worked for me”, says BOLL.

The only time BOLL was getting a bit nervous was in the 4th game. BOLL had 10-2 and probably already started celebrating, but WANG came back to 10-6. BOLL called a time out to calm down and when he came back he took the last deciding point.

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