2000 WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sweden Upsets China in Men’s Team Final at Worlds;
China Wins Fourth Consecutive Women’s Team Title
By Larry Hodges

David slew Goliath.

Or should we say Sweden (population 9 million) slew China (population 1.2 billion). 

Let’s be specific. Jorgen Persson and Jan-Ove Waldner, the Swedish champs from 1989-1993, slew a much younger, and supposedly faster and quicker team. Everyone thought Waldner would have to win two for Sweden to have a chance – but it was Persson who won two when Waldner split his matches, including his 18-in-the-third-in-the-fifth-match over Liu Guoliang. 

You could even say it was the seniors who slew the kids, since the Swedes were all approaching their mid-30’s (Waldner 34, Persson 33), while the Chinese were all in their early 20’s. 

Let’s give China their due. They didn’t win men’s teams, but they did win their fourth consecutive women’s team title. And they had won men’s teams the last two times out as well. And going into this year’s final, the had not lost a single match – while the Swedes had been losing matches over and over, including coming back from down 2-0 to the Netherlands in the preliminaries. And let’s face it – they may have lost this time, but they are still the strongest team in the world in both men’s and women’s. But not at this Worlds. 

It might not have been. Match #1 was between Waldner and World Champion Liu Guoliang. Not only is Liu probably the only player in the world favored head-to-head against Waldner, but Waldner has never beaten him in their five previous matches – a major glitch on the record of one of the all-time great (if not greatest) players. With Liu up 20-17 match point in the third, it looked like he would stay winless against Liu. However, Waldner deuced it (with Liu missing a relatively easy put-away smash at 20-19),and after fighting off still another match point, won the match, -19, 7, 21, to put Sweden up 1-0. 

In match #2, Persson defeated Kong Linghui at 17 and 19. Down 2-0, China now had their back to the wall!

In match #3, China’s Liu Guozheng had no trouble with Peter Karlsson – 6, 16. 

It looked like Sweden could win it in match #4, Waldner vs. Kong. Waldner has a strong record against Kong, and has won most of their big matches (including a close quarterfinal match in mens’ singles at the 1999 World Championships). However, Kong, after being upset by Persson earlier, seemingly had nothing to lose – and could miss nothing. Kong won the first at 7, and led 19-7 in the second before Waldner scored 8 in a row – too little too late. Match to Kong, 9, 17. 

So it came down to match #5, Jorgen Persson against the favored Liu Guoliang. Persson, the 1991 World Champion, is very good, but has not consistently shown good results since recovering from a car crash in the mid-1990s. He had beaten Liu in matches, but at the last Worlds had lost to Liu in the quarterfinals at 7,10, 15. However … this time they slugged it out evenly to 18-all. (Down 17-16, Liu served into the net; leading 18-17, Persson served into the net!). At 18-all, Persson ripped three forehand winners in a row - Sweden wins! –18, 17, 18. 

"I have been around a long time as a player and a coach," said Swedish Coach Ulf Carlsson. "This is the happiest moment in my career. "

On the women’s side, China easily won, as expected, defeating China Taipei in the final, 3-1. This was China Taipei’s first final ever at the Worlds. However, China’s top two players, Wang Nan (two wins) and Li Ju (one win) won their matches by scores of 10, 11, 7, 11, 8, 19. A Tea

The USA Team did not do as well as hoped. Both the men’s and women’s teams suffered early losses that knocked them down quite a bit, and they ended up finishing 36^th and 33^rd, respectively. USA Men lost to Brazil, 3-2, which knocked them out of the running for the top 32. (In this team match, USA’s Todd Sweeris was down 20-16 in the third to Hugo Hoyama in the second match. Todd deuced it, but lost in deuce. If he had won, USA would have won three straight – but instead Brazil came back from down 2-1 to win. ) USA Women lost to Austria, 3-1, which also knocked them out of the running for the top 32. USA Women didn’t lose another team match in the tournament, and ended up going 5-1. USA Men finished at 5-3, mostly sitting out their veterans and playing youth players (Keith Alban and Barney J. Reed) once they were eliminated from the top 32, as did the women’s team. 

More coverage of the Worlds

Photos (mostly USA players):
Eric Owens
Todd Sweeris
David Zhuang
Keith Alban
Tawny Banh
Lily Yip
Michelle Do
Gao Jun & Michelle Do
David Zhuang, Barney J. Reed, Men's Coach Dan Seemiller, Keith Alban
Women's Coach Doru Gheorghe's nose, Gao Jun, USATT President Sheri Pittman, Team Manager Bob Fox
USATT President Sheri Pittman and ITTF President Adham Sharara
Courts 1-2
Courts 3-14

MEN’S TEAMS

Final: Sweden d. China, 3-2

• Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) d. Liu Guoliang (CHN), -19, 7, 21
• Jorgen Persson (SWE) d. Kong Linghui (CHN), 17, 19
• Liu Guozheng (CHN) d. Peter Karlsson (SWE), 6, 16
• Kong Linghui (CHN) d. Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE), 9, 17
• Jorgen Persson (SWE) d. Liu Guoliang (CHN), -18, 17, 18

Men’s Semifinals

• China d. Japan, 3-0
• Sweden d. Italy, 3-1

Men’s Quarterfinals

• China d. Korea Republic, 3-0
• Sweden d. Germany, 3-0
• Japan d. Chinese Taipei, 3-2
• Italy d. Netherlands, 3-1

WOMEN’S TEAMS

Final: China d. Chinese Taipei, 3-1

• Li Ju (CHN) d. Tsui Hsiu-Li (TPE), 10, 11
• Wang Nan (CHN) d. Chen Jing (TPE), 7, 11
• Xu Jing (TPE) d. Zhang Yining (CHN), 19, 18
• Wang Nan (CHN) d. Tsui Hsiu-Li (TPE), 8, 19

Women’s Semifinals

• China d. Korea Republic, 3-1
• Chinese Taipei d. Romania, 3-2

Women’s Quarterfinals

• China d. Hong Kong, 3-0
• Chinese Taipei d. Germany, 3-1
• Romania d. Singapore, 3-1
• Korea Republic d. Japan, 3-1

Final Standings
Men:
1. Sweden; 2. China; 3. Japan and Italy; 5. South Korea, Taiwan and Holland; 8. Germany; 9. Poland, Austria, Belgium and Czech Republic; 13. Yugoslavia, France, Greece and Denmark; 17. Belarus, Slovenia, Russia and Hungary; 21. Hong Kong, Canada, Spain and Slovakia; 25. Israel; 26. England; 27. Indonesia and India; 29. Norway; 30. Brazil; 31. Croatia; 32. Singapore; 33. Finland; 34. Vietnam; 35. Luxembourg; 36. United States; 37. Turkey; 38. Wales; 39. Egypt; 40. Saudi Arabia; 41. Nigeria; 42. Ukraine; 43. Thailand; 44. Bulgaria; 45. Australia; 46. Latvia; 47. Ireland; 48. Jordan; 49. Malaysia; 50. Argentina; 51. Estonia; 52. Sri Lanka; 53. Switzerland; 54. Scotland; 55. Mexico; 56. Bosnia-Herzegovina; 57. New Zealand; 58. Iceland; 59. Portugal; 60. Puerto Rico; 61. Qatar; 62. Macau, 63. South Africa; 64. Nepal; 65. Kazakhstan; 66. Philippines; 67. Bangladesh; 68. Cambodia; 69. Macedonia; 70. Uzbekistan; 71. Lebanon; 72. Mauritius; 73. Mongolia; 74. Cyprus; 75. Seychelles; 76. Brunei. 

Women:
1. China; 2. Taiwan; 3. South Korea and Romania; 5. Hong Kong, Japan, Germany and Singapore; 9. North Korea, Sweden, Russia and Hungary; 13. Belarus; 14. Lithuania; 15. Slovakia; 16. Croatia; 17. Canada; 18. Yugoslavia; 19. Holland; 20. Indonesia; 21. Czech Republic; 22. Italy; 23. Australia; 24. Ukraine; 25. France; 26. Luxembourg; 27. England; 28. Belgium; 29. Malaysia; 30. Bulgaria; 31. Austria; 32. New Zealand; 33. United States; 34. Thailand; 35. Israel; 36. Spain; 37. Vietnam; 38. Greece; 39. Portugal; 40. Turkmenistan; 41. Poland; 42. Kazakhstan; 43. Slovenia; 44. Moldova; 45. Venezuela; 46. Brazil; 47. Wales; 48. Finland; 49. Denmark; 50. Macau; 51. Macedonia; 52. Egypt; 53. Sri Lanka; 54. Lebanon; 55. Ireland; 56. Bangladesh; 57. India; 58. Estonia; 59. Uzbekistan; 60. South Africa; 61. Switzerland; 62. Mongolia; 63. Jordan; 64. Palau; 65.Mauritius; 66.Cambodia.