46th World Table Tennis Championships

Osaka, Japan · April 23 - May 6, 2001

Women’s Teams Semifinals

April 27, 2001
By Larry Hodges
Photos will go up later

China d. Japan 3-0

An Konishi, who has a fabulous backhand hit, went up 20-18 in the first game of the first match, to the cheers of the large local Japanese crowd. She really seemed to be outplaying Zhang Yining (world #3, to Konishi’s #24). A series of missed backhand hits put her behind 20-21, but she pulled it out, 23-21. Unfortunately, all the coaxing from the crowd couldn’t overcome the fact that China was playing the top three women in the world, while Japan was playing #21, 24 and 34. Only Konishi gave a real match, and even she ended up losing badly in the end. As expected, China will be in the final against Korea … but which Korea?

 North Korea (PRK) d. South Korea (KOR) 3-1

For a time, the two Koreas had reached an agreement to send a joint team to the Worlds. If they could have combined Ryu Ji Hye (world #8) with Kim Hyang Mi (world #19, but a ringer – actually the best of the Koreans, according to many sources), they’d have a good chance against China. They had combined for one team in 1991, and their women had defeated China in the final. But at the last minute, North Korea had decided to send a separate team. So no matter who won, Korea would be sending a “watered down” team to the finals.

But, since the semifinals were Korea vs. Korea, North against South, there would be a Korea in the final. In this case, it would be the North.

Throughout the team match, an entire section was taken up by a Korean cheering contingent. I counted about 80, all wearing matching white shirts and chanting continuously between points. They were waving five huge flags and dozens of smaller ones, and they had an entire percussion “band,” including an instrument that sounded like pots and pans being banged together. One chanted they did over and over sounded, to my Americanized ears, exactly like “There’s no stopping Kor-E-A!!” I was assured that was not what they were saying.

In the first match, South Korea’s Kim Moo Kyu (world #17) and North Korea’s Kim Hyang Mi (world #68) split the first two games. Kyu led 15-11 in the third, but Mi tied it up at 16-all, and goes up 18-17. Kyu ties it up with a backhand kill, 18-all. Then the North Korean coach calls a surprising time-out – except for the net ball, Mi’s scored 7 of the last 9 points, so she’s on a roll. After the timeout, Kyu does another backhand kill to go up 19-18. Here an interesting thing happens. Kyu serves relatively deep to Mi’s forehand three times in a row. Mi steps to her right and backhand hits all three serves! The first one is a pure smash and a clean ace, 19-all. She misses the second. She makes the third, but Kyu blocks it back for a winner to win the match, -14,17,19.

In the second match, the team’s aces play, South Korea’s Ryu Ji Hye (world #8) and North Korea’s lefty ringer, Kim Hyon Hui, world #19, plus or minus about 15 or so. Before they begin, a Japanese journalist I’d been chatting with tells me to watch Hui, that she was way, way better than her ranking would suggest. Hui and Hye play even most of the match, but at the end of each game, Hui seems to win all the points. In the first, it’s 15-all, with Hye serving – and Hui takes all five of them, and wins 21-15. In the second, Hye is up 12-10 and loses 21-16. So the ringer from the North has defeated the World #8 at 15 & 16!

Hui is possibly the best pure athlete out there (although she’s not very big - half a head shorter than the next shortest member of the South Korean team), and can play from all over the court, giving her an advantage over her opponents, many of who are too glued to the table.  When she turns it on, she plays a seriously high level, attacking from all over the court. She has pips on her backhand, which she uses to hit everything that comes that way. She likes to serve backhand with the inverted side, and then flip back to the pips.

The third match is between South Korea’s Lee Eun Sil and North Korea’s Tu Jong Sil. The South Korean Sil – we’ll call her Lee – had five ads, while the North Korea’s Sil – we’ll call her Tu – had three ads before Lee won the first, 28 to 26. (Lee was serving first.) Tu won game two, 21 to14, to move to the third of this two out of three, and the third went Tu’s way too, 21 to 13, as North Korea went up two to one in the match-up of two Koreas.

The fourth match is between South Korea’s Kim Moo Kyo (who’d won the only match so far for the South) against the ringer from the North in a battle of lefties. But the World #17 isn’t able to put up much battle in the first against Hui’s barrage, losing 21-8. In the second, Kyo seems to have figured something out, and starts to really move Hui around, attacking some points, blocking in others. They play close until, down 13-15, Kyu goes up 19-16, with the serve. But up 20-17, she can’t hold it – Hui turns it on again, and scores five in a row, including some viciously aggressively play.

Immediately afterwards, Hui is hugged by her teammates, and playfully mobbed. Meanwhile, dozens and dozens of photographers had a near riot themselves, fighting for position to take photos of the impromptu horseplay.

The results here will make the match-up between Hui and the Chinese top three in the Team final – and later in the Singles - something to watch.

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