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Beijing Olympics: Three Chinese in the Women’s Semis

First published on Thursday, August 21, 2008

Last updated on Thursday, August 21, 2008

For the Olympic Women’s Singles event, the ITTF World Ranking was the perfect indicator for the effective results. The three top seeded Chinese with world number one ZHANG Yining, GUO Yue (no. 2) and WANG Nan (no. 5) all reached the semi-finals on the ninth day of the Olympic table tennis competitions.

ZHANG’s Praise for Singapore’s FENG
Especially ZHANG’s match against Singapore’s FENG Tianwei was a close matter. The Chinese won 13-11, 12-14, 14-12, 12-10, 13-11 and praised her opponent after the match. “I was prepared for a tough match against her because I lost to her at the Asian Cup in March. Compared to the last time, I feel that she has improved in her ability to sustain a rally. She is still young and has a great future.”

LI Jia Wei against Three Chinese
The only possible spoilsport in the race for the medals in the women’s singles will be LI Jia Wei (no. 6). The 27 year old from Singapore overcame US player WANG Chen with four games to one. WANG Chen reached the best US table tennis result ever in the Olympic history.

Tomorrow’s Women’s Semi-Finals
10:00: ZHANG Yining (CHN) – LI Jia Wei (SIN)
11:00: GUO Yue (CHN) – WANG Nan (CHN)

For Sure One European Legend in the Men's Semis

Two of the three all-time Olympians are still in the draw. Jörgen PERSSON (42 years old) overcame in a dramatic match world number 5 Vladimir SAMSONOV of Belarus. PERSSON will face Croatia’s 39 year old Zoran PRIMORAC in the quarter-final; another player that already participated in the 1988 Olympic Games where table tennis made its debut.

Therewith it’s already clear that one of the European legends (PERSSON or PRIMORAC) will be in the semi-final of the Olympic Men’s Singles event. “I was mentally strong”, PRIMORAC explained his unexpected successes. “I started to cool down and I started to enjoy the game.”

Fabulous Day for KO Lai Chak
He won the silver medal in the Men’s Doubles in Athens and was in the quarter-final four years ago. At the present time he is “only” number 32 in the world ranking, but in Beijing, KO Lai Chak from Hong Kong plays irresistibly. The 32 year old Chinese-born eliminated first reigning Olympic champion RYU Seung Min and in the evening session Germany’s prodigy Dimitrij OVTCHAROV. The German was constantly in the defence and KO confessed that he played extraordinarily strong.

”I think tonight’s match was the best match I have played at this Olympic Games. Even better that this morning’s match against RYU Seung Min (KOR) I generally find it hard to play against German players. I have played OVTCHAROV before, losing one and winning one. I find his style difficult to play against. But tonight I controlled the ball very well.” The Hong Kong man already looked forward to his next adversary. “My chance of winning this time (semi-final against China’s WANG Hao) is probably 30 per cent.”

Matches on Friday 22nd August

Men’s Singles Quarter-Finals:
13:30: WANG Hao (CHN) – KO Lai Chak (HKG)
14:30: Zoran PRIMORAC (CRO) – Jörgen PERSSON (SWE)
15:30: WANG Liqin (CHN) – TAN Ruiwu (CRO)
16:30: OH Sang Eun (KOR) – MA Lin (CHN)

ITTF Press Release

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Beijing Olympics: Three Chinese in the Women’s Semis

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