2008 World Team Table Tennis Championships

In group B, South Korea, playing without their injured World No. 9 Oh Sang Eun, was undefeated. But they were challenged in their shaky opener by Poland. Wang Zeng Yi (he plays for Poland) outlasted Lee Jung Woo, 12-10 in the fifth; and both 2004 Olympic Champion Ryu Seung Min and defensive star Joo Se Hyuk were down 2-1 to brawny Bartosz Such before rallying. Poland also lost two 3-2 ties— against Sweden (irritatingly, individual match-results were not always available to me), and against fifth-place Hungary (Jakub Kosowski dropped a -8, 11, -9, 14, -8 killer to Daniel Zwickl. However, the Poles were ever feisty— they beat the Czechs, 3-2, when Such-is-life, after losing still another five-gamer— to Petr Korbel— came through with a 3-2 fifth-match win over Josef Simoncik.

Chinese Taipei finished second in the B’s, though they would have been forced into a last-match stand against Hungary had Chih-Yuan Chuan lost his 11-9-in-the-fifth fight with Janos Yakab. The Chinese in Tapei were given more of a 3-2 hard time by Sweden. Had the Swedes won, they would have finished second, instead of fourth. Big swing matches: Jens Lundqvist, up 2-1 and at 10-all in the fourth, lost to Chang Yen-Shu; and Robert Svensson went down 12-10 in the fourth to 1999 U.S. Open Champ Chiang Peng-Lung. The Czechs, buoyed by Korbel’s win over Lundqvist in 5, earned the coveted third place. Jorgen Persson, 1991 World Champion, now 41, announced to the media that China was “virtually impossible to beat.” He didn’t play this tie, and someone, wondering why he was here, speculated that he didn’t know what else to do with himself. But, hey, he did score a fifth-match win against Such to give Sweden a 3-2 victory over Poland. A clink of glasses, though, to the sixth-place Poles who, seemingly far away from the 12 teams that made the eighth’s, went on to place No. 13 in the final team standings.
The group C winner was undefeated Japan, 3-1, over otherwise undefeated Germany, greatly hampered by World No. 5 Timo Boll’s absence. His kneecap patella tendon was inflamed, so he thought it “senseless” to try to play, “not fully fit and with permanent aches.” Russia came third, largely because, though their World No. 22 Alexei Smirnov lost 15-13 in the fifth to Japan’s Kan Yo, he won a far more important five-game match against Peter Seroda that allowed the Russians to beat the Slovaks, 3-2. Had this tie been reversed, and the Slovak Republic won its final tie against Germany (as in fact it did, though Germany’s second-place was not affected by the outcome), the Slovaks would have finished second instead of fifth, and Russia would have fallen to fourth.

Against Germany, Russia’s lone win was former European Champion Smirnov’s— 14-12 in the second/13-11 in the fifth over Bastian Steger who’d have a good win over Japan’s Jun Mizutani. Germany also defeated fourth-place Serbia 3-1 when both Christian Suss and Dimitrij Ovtcharov, seven-game runner-up to Boll in the German National’s, downed Serbia’s three-time U.S. Open Champ Aleksandar Karakasevic, winner earlier over longtime French Internationals Damien Eloi and Patrick Chila. Eloi (though losing to Germany’s World No.15 Ovtcharov in five) won his two against Slovakia, but to no avail, for France‘s younger players— Abdelkader Salifou and Adrian Mattenet— lost all three of their 3-2 matches. France thus ended up sixth and, after continued positional play, twenty-second overall, barely escaping relegation to the 25-48 block of teams in 2010.

In group D, not Hong Kong but Chinese Hong Kong, as it was now being called, advanced straight to the quarterfinals with a win over runner-up, let’s call them Chinese Singapore, o.k.? Denmark opened very unspectacularly, losing their first two matches against Singapore in straight games, but then turned stubborn— Kasper Sternberg blitzed Cai Xiao Li, and Finn Tugwell forced 2007 Commonwealth Games Champion Gao Ning to 11-all in the fifth before succumbing. Had Finn won that match, World No. 21 Michael Maze and World No. 23 Yang Zi might have put on quite a show. How important early-round matches can be— for we see later that Denmark gave Hong Kong its only loss. Had they beaten Singapore they would have moved right into the quarters— with the perk of one less match to play.

Belarus lost to Greece, 3-2, in their opening match when World No. 72 Panagiotis Gionas upset World No. 6 Vladimir Samsonov, and Konstantinos Papageorgibu beat Evgueni Chtchetinine, 13-11 in the fourth. Ironically, this great start didn’t do a thing for Greece— they lost the rest of their ties, finished sixth, then No. 23, and so, like Belgium, were relegated. Think the Hellenic Association might have a few fiery thoughts about their World No. 16 Kalinikos Kreanga staying home because he reportedly wanted to practice for the Olympics?

Belarus, on the other hand, after being zipped by Singapore, had 3-1 wins over No. 3 finisher Denmark and No. 5 finisher Spain. Denmark, however, beat heretofore undefeated Hong Kong, 3-1— with Maze winning two and Tugwell outlasting Li Ching, 12-10 in the fifth. Oh, yes, all ties do count. After Spain’s Carlos Machado’s 11-8-in-the-fifth win over Denmark’s Sternberg, if the venerable He Zhiwen (1983 Swiss Open winner; 2007 Panasonic China Open finalist!) had reversed his five-game loss to Maze, three teams would have had 2-3 records and Belarus would have come third in a tie-breaker. As it is, they finished No. 14.

Eighth’s
The match-ups in the eighth’s produced the following results. In the top half of the draw, the Czech Republic defeated Singapore (despite the audience’s encouraging “CHIN-a!...CHIN-a!” calls) in a 3-2 pulse-beater that, with the entire Czech bench clapping in unison, resulted in hugs all around for Korbel and crew who were enjoying themselves before facing China in the quarter’s. In the companion eighth’s, Romania, defeating Russia, advanced to meet Chinese Hong Kong. The bottom half of the draw saw Chinese Taipei ready to take on Japan after eliminating Denmark as a Championship contender. (Never after a tie-ending point have I seen a player spin not a ball but a racket as high as that losing Dane did.)

Though only the tie on Court No. 1 involving the Chinese was covered on the big viewer screen above, I was most interested in the Court No. 2 tie between Germany and Austria, the victor to meet South Korea. Though he’d been reluctant to come— so why’d Germany bring him?— Jorg Rosskopf, playing in his sixteenth World’s, seems, as I pick up his match, to be holding his own against Schlager until, oh, oh, at 11-all he whiffs two straight. But this doesn’t appear to phase him— his body language says he’s all business, and, keeping up his lefty attack, he wins the next game, 11-9. I can’t make out the score anyplace, but the match must be close, for in the following game Rosskopf’s wired, jogging in circles, and whenever he scores with a spectacular point, up jump his teammates. Rossi doesn’t win this match though.

Next up, “Dima” Oftcharov against defender Chen Weixing. The rise of the young German after he’d won the 2005 European Youth Championship has been meteoric. His parents came to Germany from the Ukraine (in the ‘70s his father, who now coaches him, had played table tennis, been a reserve on the Russian National Team), and since Dima was born in Germany he’s a German citizen. Viewers are struck by his innovative right-handed serve preparation. As he crouches, his arm is brought over via a mask-the-mouth motion and his hand holding the racket is turned so that it seems deformed; he then rears up and completes whatever untangling serve he wants. He hits very hard—Chen looks to avoid balls that might give him welts. I don’t know if Seuss and Steger had recovered from their injuries— Christian from a temperamental injury he’d accidentally given himself; Bastian from a reported hamstring problem that forced him to default against Belarus— but, never mind, against Gardos, Germany was playing, successfully, Patrick Baum, the first European to win the World Junior Championship (in 2005). Germany 2-Austria 1.

Back comes Schlager, and with deft drops, lobs, finesse gets and counters, sometimes sending Oftcharov sprawling, he evens the tie for Austria. Which brings me to the tied tie’s finale. It’s been almost 20 years since Rossi won the World Doubles with Steffen Fetzner, but his league play’s kept him in shape and he’s still got plenty of power off both wings. He opens with a crucial 13-11 win, follows with an 11-8 one, and, continuing to bang in balls, builds a 9-6 lead in the 3rd. Almost there. Chen calls Time….Rossi returns to the table— and loses five straight.Then, in the fourth he’s gone cold, and when he loses that game he’s no longer the favorite— that is, until he takes a 6-1…7-5…no, he’s not gonna blow it…10-6 lead in the fifth. Why did the Germans bring the 38-year-old Rosskopf? Because he knows how to win. And knows how to celebrate that win— he rushes from the table, jumps into Oftcharov’s arms and is mobbed by his teammates. Germany may not win a medal without Boll, but they’ve gotten to the quarter’s.

Quarter’s
China (3) vs. Czech Republic (0). Wang Liqin—might you call him the weak link on this World No. 1, 2, 3, Quarter’s, Semi’s, Final Team? O.K., he didn’t lose to Korbel, but, down 2-1 and at 9-all in the fourth, with the nervous crowd (“CHIN-a! CHIN-a!”) urging him to do his duty, he couldn’t have been too comfortable, could he? But then, ah, that’s better—in the fifth, he’s up 6-0 (bravo for the great fishing, lobbing, countering point), and 8-1…and safe. Tomas Pavelka, at 11-all in the first, can he put pressure on Ma Lin? Not after he loses that one, 13-11. Next game, make that the next two games, he gets eight points, total. Now it’s Wang Hao’s turn against Josef Simoncik. The Czech did well in earlier round robin play to upset South Korea’s World No. 59 Kim Jung Hoon, 12-10 in the fifth. And since he’s not listed in the top120, you’d probably want to say he did well here too in losing 11-9 in the fourth.

Chinese Hong Kong (3) vs. Romania (1). Against Li Ching, Filimon -2, -5, -5 can’t connect at all. Which reminds me— there seem to be lots of whiffs among players these days. Case in point: Adrian Crisan’s up 1-0 and, after a brilliant ace placement, up 12-11 on Ko Lai Chak when, sure enough, he whiffs a furious forehand, then loses the game. But he wins the next. In the fourth, the score’s 10-all when Ko fails to return serve. Now there’s a fine finishing point—forehand counters and lobs by the Romanian when vulnerable on his backhand, and more counters till Crisan wins the match. Hong Kong goes up 2-1 in the tie, though, for 2007 Chile Open finalist Tang Peng, up 1-0 and 11-10, needs only to watch as—what do you think happens?—Cioto whiffs. Then of course the Romanian drops the third game as well. Crisan wasn’t happy on losing the fourth match to Li, but he certainly pleased the crowd with his lobs—they joined right in, synchronizing their voices to the rise and fall of the ball.

Japan (3) vs. Chinese Taipei (0). Japanese National Champion Jun Mizutani, 18, must have given Chiang Peng-Lung, who at World No. 36 is only seven ranking spots behind the young Japanese, the worst defeat he’s had in many a day. In the first game, he’s down 8-1; in the second, he’s down 8-1; and in the third, down 4-0 and unable to stand it any longer, he throws up his hands—as if to say, “WHAT’S HAPPENING!”—and calls Time! But no help there either, for a few more minutes insist on elapsing before, out-pointed 33-11, he can hurry off court.

Chinese Taipei’s Chuan Chih-Yuan is ranked No. 14 to Kaii Yoshida’s No. 51. But since they have so many forehand counter-driving points, the ball often skimming low over the net, perhaps the fact that Yoshida, runner-up to Mizutani in their National’s, plays penhold and Chuan shakehands makes the match closer than might be expected. With the Japanese leading 2-1 in games, and Taipei fans chanting out their “CHIN-a!” cheers, the fourth is tied at 9-all. Chuan serves, Yoshida loops in a winner; Chuan serves, Yoshida returns it a little too high and Chuan snacks it in. Now it’s Japan’s turn to serve, and Yoshida gambles— catches Chuan off guard with a fast serve down his forehand line; follows by winning the next point to take the match. He jumps high, runs to his bench, then comes back to shake hands with Chuan.
World No. 17 Kan Yo’s expected win over World No. 85 Wu Chih-Chi gives Japan a clean sweep.
South Korea (3) vs. Germany (1). Only Rosskopf, World No. 47, overpowering Joo, World No.12, in the opener, 6 -12, 7, 9, can bring momentary smiles to the Germans. Oftcharov fights hard against Ryu, but, down 1-0, he loses a 15-13 second game that hurts. And though he wins the fourth to square the match, he can’t contest from mid-game the fifth. Baum, Germany’s 2006 Top 12 winner, paired against 23-year-old lefty penholder Lee Jung Woo, 2001 Asian Junior Champ, can’t win a match-changing close one either. In the second, an edge ball quirkily hands him the 12-11 lead, but though he has Lee back from the table he can’t finish him. Nor does he win the 11-9 fourth. Oftcharov seems to break free of the German late-game doldrums with a 14-12 opener against Joo. Then, all-out hitting just like Rosskopf, he’s up 9-6, loses a point, and (Time!) is called to his bench. Ohh, not the right time— he comes back, drops another four points and the game that, since he won the third easily, might have made a huge difference. Now he loses the fourth 11-9, and in the fifth, down 6-5, he alertly returns an edge but leaves the table open, leaves his whole game open, and, winning six in a row, Joo takes full advantage. A valiant try by Germany without Boll, but, nope, no medal.

Semi’s
China (3) vs. Chinese Hong Kong (0). Ma Lin and Li Ching, both righty penholders, open for their respective countries as their court’s flanked on both sides by photographers. Since 2008 marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of the USTTA/USATT, I might quote the most influential man in U.S. Table Tennis in the 1930s. “Now we know,” says Carl Zeisberg. “There is no high-ranking player in the world who uses the penholder [grip]…and the greatest players all go so far as to say no one can ever be a real top-notcher with it.”

Of course history, being part-fact, part fiction, doesn’t always know what it’s talking about. Ching’s new-millennium problem is how to keep Ma, with his fast hands, fast footwork, from scoring with his forehand. The ball seems to go where Li isn’t. Down 9-3 in the first, 4-0 in the second, Li looks passive compared to Ma who has this habit of fanning himself (not because he’s hot but because he’s exercising his supple wrist?)

In the third, Li’s down 5-0. C’mon, Ma, what kind of match is this? But Li’s World No. 11 rating is not meaningless. He resists— gets into some low-crouch counters with Ma that look like overheads. Moreover, as if a touch crazy, Li keeps putting the ball to Ma’s forehand, and apparently the four-time World Cup Champion finds this fun, for on and on the match goes until Ma, at 19-17, finally says, enough.
Wang Liqin’s match with Tang Peng—will that be as competitive? Wang has a pretty good forehand too. He wins the first, 11-8, then, up 7-5 in the second, he runs out the game. In the third, Tang’s not gonna take it anymore—he’s up 4-0. But you knew, didn’t you, that wasn’t enough spot. As if to prove he can swat in big backhands too, Wang ties it up at 5-all. Though there’s not enough spice in this match for Tang, maybe there is for the “CHIN-a!” audience.

Running roughshod—the Chinese may not use the idiom, but they know what it means well enough. The match to mercifully end the tie pits Wang Hao against World No. 31 Cheung Yuk. In the first, from five-all, Wang runs 1-2-3-4-5-6 in a row. Then ups it to nine in a row with a 3-0 lead in the second. Up 3-2, he runs 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 more in a row. Then ups it to 11 in a row. You begin to see a no-play pattern here? In the third, from five-all, as if wanting to keep beginning and end together, he runs 1-2-3-4-5-6 more. Some contest, huh?

A much more anticipated tie for the relatively few in the audience who aren’t Chinese is South Korea (3) vs. Japan (1). Japanese Coach Yoshihito Miyazaki told the China Daily that “we are still gradually coming out of the dark ages,” but that his “rapidly improving” younger players aimed “to become a team other top nations, even China feared to play.” This tie, like the Chinese-Hong Kong one, opens with penhold play—between Ryu and Yoshida. The 19-year-old Japanese starts off shakily—he whiffs, mis-serves, and nets a ball— but his rocketing down-the-line service ace ties it up at 4-all. Only then, Ryu dominates. Ditto for the play in the second game— Yoshida catches the Korean with a drop, closes to 3-4, but loses 11-5. Early in the third, Yoshida takes a maniacal swipe at Ryu’s serve and when it doesn’t go in he smiles, or grimaces, to self and shakes his head at his bench. Then he misses a wild forehand, mis-serves, and is 8-5 down. But though he may not be prudent he’s purposefully persistent— down 10-9 he stays alive with a gutsy forehand; down 11-10 he thrusts in a winning backhand. But from 12-all he can’t survive.

In the second match of the tie, Lee Jung Woo takes the first game from Mizutani after acing him at 9-all with a perfect backhand placement. In the second the Japanese youth fails to return serve twice (today that seemingly elementary error occurs as much in tournaments as in family-room play), but though Lee also accumulates points with a near fall-down forehand and a looped-in serve return, Mizutani gets a match-tying edge. In the third and fourth games, each player’s early four-point lead can’t be overcome. In the fifth, Lee opens by socking in Mizutani’s serve and with every winning point thereafter, especially from Lee’s 6-3 to 10-3 lead, the Korean bench rises up in rapt support. Korea 2-Japan 0.
2007 Brazil Open winner Kan Yo had better take down Joo or its curtains for Japan. In the first game, to the encouragement of a little group of pro-Japanese balloon-beaters, Kan moves from 6-all to 10-6 and, despite Joo’s forehand cross-court stinger that gets him to 10-9, holds for the win. In the second, Kan is whacking in everything, high or low balls, and is up 5-0. But then comes the anomaly of nine in a row from Joo, and Korea’s lookin’ to finish this tie. Especially when from 6-all in the third Joo runs it out. But Joo can’t pull away from Kan, and in the fifth the Korean calls for Time. Yes, o.k., but it just ticks neutrally on… while the court remains the same but the players change.

Japan’s still out there, now in the person of Mizutani— and, up 10-4 in the first against Ryu, he’s doing alright. As we’ve seen, though, this sport harbors some streaky play. The Japanese gets a 10-all fright, but prevails 12-10. A rally wasted for Ryu? Literally, but perhaps not psychologically. In the second, he’s got juice enough to bang in half-a-dozen forehands to take an 8-5 lead. Down 10-8, Mizutani socks in an on-the-run backhand, but is stopped by a fortuitous edge for Ryu. It comes just in time, for Mizutani takes a 4-0 lead in the third. That advantage, however, disappears into thin air when Ryu’s lobs trampoline into a 6-all tie. Now there’s a strange waiting-out with what seems no more than backhand-to-backhand warm-up play. But after this there are some fun acrobatic gets by Ryu, and a 5-0 run by Mizutani that puts him up 2-1. Might Korea start to become fearful of Japan? In the fourth, Ryu holds off Mizutani, 11-9. In the fifth, he breaks free— begins an untiring forehand attack that moves him from 4-2 to 10-3. South Korea, as in Bremen, is again in the final.

Final
China (3) vs. South Korea (0). 2002 U.S. Open Champ Ma Lin opens against 2004 U.S. Open Champ Ryu. The Korean serves and follows, is up 1-0. Ma gets a net, 1-all. Ma serves and follows, 2-1. Ryu pushes his serve return into the net— for which he earns much applause from the spectators, some of whom are thrusting up signs in Chinese characters that one interpreter tells me says, “Win, China!” Good advice. Ryu serves and follows, misses— that puts Ma up 4-1. A 5-point no-play start… which most of the sold-out, 13,000 strong don’t seem to mind at all. Occasionally Ma seems to want to encourage a well-played point— at least there was one at 6-2. Ryu tries to help— keeps throwing the ball into his paddle before serving, showing a willingness to keep the ball in play. But he pushes another serve return into the net to go down 8-4. Finally he gets in a clean winner before Ma wallops in an ending 11-5 ball.

On receiving serve, the right-handed Ma twirls the racket in his non-playing hand so long before last-second transferring it that I think he’s gonna play the point lefty. Up 6-3 he serves into the net. Then he eases one back as if he wants Ryu to hit it in. Ryu does. After a series of quickly shared points, Ryu serves, follows, and it’s 10-all. Ma serves, follows, and it’s 11-10 Ryu. Ryu serves, follows, and it’s 12-10 Ryu. Ridiculous. A ridiculous Sport. Tie fit to be tied.

Third game— Ma’s up 5-0. A Chinese researcher has proved that if you “Get to five first, you’ll win 80 percent of the time.” So Ma’s got a good chance. Up 6-4 he serves and follows. Up 7-4 he serves and follows. Ryu mis-serves. Ma wins it 11-6. Fourth game: Ma opens with serve and follow, 1-0. Ma follows with serve and follow, 2-0. Part of me wants to leave. What has the sport come to? Ryu, down 4-1, fails to return serve. Up 6-2, Ma serves and follows. Ma wins 11-5. His arms go up in acknowledgement to the cheering crowd.
Now a between-match divertissement. To the accompaniment of noise, short-skirted cheerleader-types, their pom-poms waiting in readiness just below the waist, suddenly gyrate into action. What has China come to?

Wang Hao against Lee Jung Woo. This match is no walkaway. Lee wins the first game 11-7. And though people are screaming, “CHIN-a! CHIN-a!” he might win the second too. Down 11-10, Wang serves and…drops! Clever fellow—understandably Lee isn’t ready for that. Two ticked nets affecting Lee’s timing allow Wang to win the game. Best thing that happens to Lee in the third is when he gives the crowd their favorite high—boy, does he have them abuzz, especially when his ball coming down catches the back edge. In the fourth, Wang prevails—two highlights: a mid-game mid-gut get to stay in and win the point, and later in the end-game an artful backhand serve return that passes Lee.
Korea had best act quickly. Now it’s 29-year-old Wang Liqin, introduced with a litany of accomplishments, against Joo, generally billed as “the world’s best chopper.” Wang was said to be in some jeopardy—he had to make a good impression on his coaches so that after “cautious consideration and careful research” they’d pick him to play in the upcoming Olympic Qualification tournament. He’d try his best. First game he’s up 9-1. Second game 8-1. Then, up 4-1, perhaps he’s startled when Joo wins five in a row. Startled but not stunned— for, retaliating from 6-all, he closes with five in a row of his own.

So how sum up this warm-up tournament for the Beijing Olympics? “Paddlers could offer little resistance to the Red Army,” said the China Daily— a line applicable not only to China’s Men but their Women too.