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South Korea prevent Chinese table tennis gold sweep
2004-08-23
ATHENS - South Korea's Ryu Seung-min prevented a Chinese sweep of Olympics table tennis gold, upsetting Wang Hao to win the men's singles final on Monday.In a feat South Korean media described as "conquering the Great Wall of Chinese Table Tennis," Ryu won 11-3 9-11 11-9 11-9 11-13 11-9 to become the first Korean to win the title since the sport's Olympics debut at Seoul in 1988. "Even though I won, I have to admit that Wang is a better player than I am," Ryu said. "It's just that he was under a lot more pressure than I was." Wang, initially shocked at his loss, said China's table tennis reputation could survive the setback. "We won all the (four) golds in 1996, we won all the (four) golds in 2000 and we won three golds here so we are still the strongest and most invincible team," Wang said. STAY TOP Ryu's gold medal, South Korea's sixth, helped his country stay in the top 10 in the medals table despite being far off its target of 13 titles in Athens. China's Wang Xu took the women's 72kg freestyle gold medal by beating Russia's Gouzel Maniourova in a battle of the women's heavyweight wrestlers. Japan took home two gold medals in women's freestyle wrestling, making its debut as an Olympic event. Fast-tackling Saori Yoshida beat Tonya Verbeek of Canada to win gold in the 55kg. Two-time world champion Kaori Icho topped American Sara McMann to take the 63kg title, following a silver by her older sister, 48kg silver medallist Chiharu Icho. Halfway through the tenth day of the Olympics, China topped the medals table with 23 golds, 15 silvers and 11 bronzes -- one gold ahead of the Americans. In their best showing in three decades, Japan was in third with 15 golds, seven silvers and eight bronzes. Despite a their stellar showing in Athens, Chinese sports officials were guarded about the medal race. "We have basically met all our goals in our traditionally strong events," said Duan Shijie, deputy Chinese delegation head. "But most of our strongest events are behind us," he said, citing shooting, badminton, weightlifting and table tennis. Asked if he thought China would top its record high of 28 golds at Sydney, Duan said: "We haven't made any forecasts." He said he was pleased with China's showing in women's team sports such as hockey and volleyball, in which China sought to hone skills for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Chinese women have made the semi-finals in hockey and the quarter-finals in volleyball. "We did not set high targets because we are still in the process of improving," he told reporters. "In our weak sports, even if we don't win medals, we get a chance to test ourselves and learn from overseas competitors." Reuters
World No. 1 Zhang Yining left as sole Chinese in ProTour finals (2005-12-14)Olympic champion leads dominant Chinese squad into table tennis worlds (2005-04-29)South Korea prevent Chinese table tennis gold sweep (2004-08-23)China's Zhang Yining Wins Table Tennis (2004-08-22)China Wins Gold in Doubles Table Tennis (2004-08-21)
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