US Women's Table Tennis Olympic Team Updates
by Whitney Ping

Team USA Records Terrific Victory, Remains In Chase For Bronze

The American Team was undaunted by the early match start against Romania and came prepared to battle in Beijing on Friday, August 15 at 10AM against the young team that carried with them a wave of momentum after two upset wins to advance from their group.  Team USA, for their part, brought with them years of experience and a desire to continue America's best ever performance at an Olympic table tennis event.  The women, by virtue of taking second in Group B, were guaranteed a top eight finish, but medal hopes were still at stake in this match for both teams.

The US Team flips for the 'ABC' side of the draw, which sees Wang Chen face nineteen-year old Elizabeta Samara, a left-handed shakehand player with a very solid topspin game on both the forehand and backhand wings.  Samara was virtually unstoppable last year on the junior circuit, and in her first year in the senior ranks, she has already shown that she can challenge the best.  Samara narrowly takes game one, 11-9, and the pressure is clearly on for both players.  Wang Chen rallies back and plays stronger in the second game to take the game, 11-6, and even the match.  But Samara is attacking strongly on both sides with lots of spin and good power.  Wang has trouble with her opponent's serves, which allows Samara to strike often on offense and Wang Chen seems not to be in her comfort zone, as the Romanian takes the next two games at 7 and a narrow fourth game at 9 to win the match, 3-1, and put the Romanian team on the scoreboard early. US - 0, Romania - 1.

Next up is Gao Jun for the United States versus Romania's best, WR #47 Daniela Dodean.  Dodean, even more so than her teammate, has been Europe's rising hope since her cadet years and has had a phenomenal year rocketing up the world ranking list.  Dodean and Gao had played once before in the 2007 French Open with Dodean taking a surprise 4-2 victory.  But today, Gao entered the match with a look that meant business.  In game one, the Romanian upstart goes up early, 5-2.  Like Samara, she is strong from both wings but is faster on her feet and plays closer to the table; she can counter quickly off the bounce for winners.  While this often works in her favor, Gao's style of play - her patience and incredible stamina to remain in the long points and consistency causes troubles for Dodean.  Gao's blocks force Dodean to rush many of her shots, as the Romanian looks for the right moments to finish the point on, but more often than not, is slightly off balance and misses.  Gao rallies to take the game back, 11-7.

Gao plays a terrific point at up 2-1, as she goes on the attack with a forehand wide to Dodean's backhand followed by a quick winner that sails wide to the forehand with no chance of return.  She gives a little fist pump, a rarity for Gao who typically shows few emotions on the court, but competing in the Olympic Games surely provide plenty of reasons for excitement.  Again in this game, Dodean does not seem like she wants to exchange long rallies with Gao, and makes a number of unforced errors giving the American a 10-3 lead.  Some good forehands by Dodean make up ground and she closes the gap to 10-6, but Gao literally blocks down further progress to take game two, 11-6.

Dodean, in her corner looks slightly dejected and gets a few pats on the back from her coach, and perhaps a reminder too that she had been down 2-0 in games to Natalia Partyka in the first match of the Poland tie yesterday before storming back to win the next three games.  She comes out firing to lead 4-0, but Gao is a master of playing each point in its own right and ties it up at 4-all.  At 5-5, Gao takes two points from her serve and the Romanian bench calls time-out.  But Gao's defensive blocking and offensive exploits when the right ball comes her way are simply too much for the Romanian to handle.  Gao does just enough to place her shots out of Dodean's reach or catches her slightly off guard.  She takes the game, 11-7, and match by three games to zero, and a cheer from Gao shows that she really wanted the win - and earned it (scores: 11-7, 11-6, 11-6).  Super play puts US - 1, Romania - 1.

Coach Doru Gheorghe elects to play Gao Jun in the doubles with Crystal Huang.  Naturally, the doubles match is key for each team tie, but the importance of this match cannot be overstated.  If Romania can take this doubles match, then the remaining singles line-up is in their favor based on ranking, as Wang Chen would likely be too strong for Romania #3 Iulia Necula and Dodean is much higher ranked than Crystal Huang.  However, the same is true if the United States wins the doubles, as it would put them in an optimal position to take the team match, 3-1.  We have seen throughout this Olympic tournament, though, that rankings are not often the best indicator for predicting the winner.
 
Team USA strings up five straight points after losing the first two in game one, and then lead 8-3.  Several unforced errors by the Americans bring the score back to 9-8, but a lucky break shot that hit the net give Crystal and Gao the advantage with Gao to serve at 10-8.  Gao is widely known as one of the top doubles players in the world and is an ITTF Pro Tour Finals champion in doubles.  Her serve gives the US team game one, 11-8.

The Romanians come out more aggressive in this match and are looking sharper, but Necula smashes out a floater at 6-4.  Good plays bring them back to 7-all.  Left-handed Crystal Huang has two smart reads on the return of service, which forces errors by the Romanian team.  Another two great serves by Crystal allows her to finish up the game on her own with an 11-7 win.  Both Americans are playing well despite the tense situation.

In game three, the Romanians jump out to take the lead, 6-2, then are hitting winners to go up 10-6.  Team USA takes two points set up by Gao's excellent service returns, and at down 10-8, the Americans criss-cross their attacks putting Romania on the defense.  They tie it up at 10-all, but the Romania's catch a net to give them the advantage.  Crystal comes through with an excellent attack wide into the backhand of Samara, but they can't convert the next point to take the lead.  At 15-14 for Romania, the Romanian bench calls time out when the team takes their seventh game point, but it takes them to 17-16 before they can finally clinch the game by a fast push that catches Gao off guard.

Game four is well played with a number of good exchanges by both camps, but the Americans have the edge to go up, 7-5.  A great attack by Crystal, who is perhaps playing one of the biggest matches of her career here, followed by Gao's wide block that is unreachable for the Romanians puts them ahead 9-5.  Team USA takes their third match point at 10-6, and win it at 11-7.  US - 2, Romania - 1.

Wang Chen comes back in for the United States against Romania #3, Iulia Necula.  It is clear from the start of the match and from game one that the right-handed Necula is not giving Wang the trouble that she experienced against Samara.  In fact, Necula's playing style, a clean and straight-forward two-winged game, plays into the American's strengths and she is able to control her attacks and finish with strong shots at the right opportunities.  She takes game one, 11-5.

Game two and three are much of the same.  She takes a good lead at the start of game two that she maintains throughout.  At up 10-5 in the second, Wang Chen takes the game with a point that really exemplified her smart and dominant play this match - with a steady but continuous rally to take control of the point before gaining the perfect ball to end it.   Necula is not playing poorly, she just seems to be outmatched in power by Wang Chen and cannot prevent Wang's attacks, often playing returns too long.

In game three, Wang jumps out to a 5-1 lead, which she extends to 8-2.  She runs off the next three points with ease to clinch the Team USA win, 11-2.  US fans in the stands are happy and all three team members, each having done their part to advance the team to the next round, wave to the crowd and acknowledge their enthusiastic support.  US - 3, Romania - 1.

Coach Doru Gheorghe is also proud of his team and is quoted by the ITTF as saying that it is  experience that helped bring an American victory: "We are much more experienced that the Romanians and higher ranked."  However, Coach Gheorghe was also quick to credit the opponents ["Romanians are very good, they are still young"], but it was a well earned win because "at this stage anyone can win the matches."

The United States now advances to the semi-finals of the bronze medal bracket, and the team awaits the loser of the gold medal semi-final bracket between Singapore and Korea.  The team may favor a draw against the Koreans seeing as how strong Singapore has shown itself this tournament, and the fact that Korea has two defensive players, which may suit Team USA slightly better than the Singapore match up.

The US Women's Team Advances To Stage Two, Meets Young Romanian Team

After Singapore played according to their seeding in defeating the Netherlands, 3-0, the United States Women's Olympic Table Tennis Team cemented their second place group finish to advance from Group B.  China, Hong Kong, and Korea joined Singapore in earning first place finishes in their respective groups, and move on to a semi-final bracket to compete for the gold and silver medals.  Losers in the semi's in that bracket will receive a bye round in the bronze medal bracket and will meet the winners of the two match-ups between the four second place finishing teams of each group.  Those four teams are Austria, Japan, the United States and Romania.

The United States will meet Romania (Daniela Dodean, WR #47; Elizabeta Samara, WR #61; Iulia Necula, WR #202) in the quarter-final round of the bronze medal bracket.  The young Romanian team, ranked fourth in their group, caused two upsets to advance.  They first defeated Germany in a surprising 3-0 result, and last night continued their strong play by narrowly defeating Poland, 3-2, in a match that determined the second place group finish.  The Romanians field two players under twenty years of age and a third under twenty-four, but all enjoyed illustrious junior careers and will enter the match with high energy.

Fans can watch the match on nbcolympics.com tonight, Thursday, August 14 at 7PM Pacific Time, which will stream live from Beijing, or follow live scoring on www.ittf.com.  Go Team USA!

Team USA Outplays Nigeria, Completes Group Play With 2-1 Record

The United States Women's Olympic Table Tennis Team won the last team match in their group play, defeating the Nigerian team without giving up a single game.  Using the same position line-up as in the match against Singapore, Gao Jun started off play for the American team against five-time Olympian, Bose Kaffo, and this year's flag bearer at the Opening Ceremonies for her country.  Gao maintained a steady form from the start and never allowed Kaffo to find her rhythm, throwing off Kaffo's topspin strength by constantly changing the speed and spins of her blocks and exploiting opportunities to attack.  Gao wins easily to put the US on the board (scores: 11-1, 11-2, 11-6).  US - 1, Nigeria - 0.

Similarly, Wang Chen was superior in every aspect of play in her match against Cecilia Otu Offiong, and led each game with few complications.  A number of American fans came out to support the US Women's Team as chants of "U-S-A" could be heard frequently and clearly, even in the midst of a China-favored crowd that cheered loudly for the hometown team in their concurrent match-up against Austria.  Wang Chen's play didn't disappoint and gave reason for support in her straight game win (scores: 11-5, 11-3, 11-4).  US - 2, Nigeria - 0.

Crystal Huang entered the doubles match with Gao Jun and won her first match at the Olympic Games against Funke Oshonaike and Cecilia Otu Offiong in another 3-0 route.  Game scores reflect a relatively closer match than the two previous singles matches, but the Americans controlled play throughout (scores: 11-5, 11-9, 11-8).  US - 3, Nigeria - 0.

The US Team, with their 2-1 record in group play, then waited for the results from the Singapore-Netherlands team match to determine the final placement order in Group B.  The top two teams from each group advance into single elimination play, with the first place finishers competing for the gold and silver medals, and second place finishers advancing into rounds for the bronze.

US Women's Team Rebounds With Upset Win Over the Netherlands, 3-1

After being overpowered in a 3-0 loss to Singapore on Wednesday morning, the US Women's Olympic Team needed to put the match quickly behind them in order to refocus their efforts on the evening match against the Netherlands.  A loss to the Netherlands would likely have eliminated the United States from medal contention. 

The American team entered the 7:30PM match as slight underdogs against the Dutch women (Li Jiao - WR #15; Li Jie - WR #45; Elena Timina - WR #115), the tournament's seventh seeded team.

Wang Chen came to the table first for the United States, and in a match-up of each team's top ranked player, faced Li Jiao.  The pair traded the first two games, with the first going to the Li at 6-11 and the second narrowly to the American, 11-9.  The match extended to the fifth game - Jiao dominated the third game 4-11, and Wang jockeyed back to take the fourth by the same margins.  However, a trade back in favor of the Dutch athlete was not to occur, as Wang Chen closed out the fifth game with a strong 11-3 win, giving her the match by three games to two, in a match that last just under 40 minutes (scores: 6-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-4, 11-3).  USA - 1, Netherlands - 0.

The US #2, Gao Jun, faced Dutch #2 Li Jie.  Gao quickly followed suit with her teammate's significant win, but took much less time to do it.  The American shut out her opponent in three games, with all scores kept under five points - a truly remarkable showing by the experienced Gao Jun against a top fifty world-ranked opponent (scores: 11-5, 11-4, 11-4).  USA - 2, Netherlands - 0.

Earlier in the morning, coach Doru Gheorghe and team opted to play Gao Jun in the doubles.  In this match-up, the team flipped for the side of the 'ABC' draw, and Wang Chen partnered with Crystal Huang, allowing Gao to sit out the game and rest after her singles match.  The American women lost three games to one, with two games falling the way of the Dutch team by very close margins (scores: 9-11, 11-9, 6-11, 9-11).  USA - 2, Netherlands - 1.

Gao Jun came back into action after the doubles, playing the defensive player Elena Timina.  Gao is perhaps in best form when matched up against defense, as it buys her time to play each shot as strategically as possible with changing spin, speed, and placement.  Her reputation against defense was not to be tarnished one bit in this match; in fact, it was further polished by a straight game win at high stakes (scores: 11-7, 11-5, 11-7).  USA - 3, Netherlands - 1.

The victory against the Dutch team, which lasted shy of two hours, was crucial.  Olympic team coach Doru Gheorghe commented to the ITTF: "We hoped we were going in to win. Of course our chances were 50-50, it was just our lucky day, what can I say. It comes down to the day, the minute... The girls were just really focused."  Team USA now stands at second place in their group and remain in the hunt for a medal.  The US Women have one team match remaining in their round robin against the sixteenth-seeded Nigerian team to be played Thursday, August 14 at 2:30PM.  Live scoring can be followed at www.ittf.com.

The US Women's Team Lose to Strong Singaporean Team, 0-3
The US team (Wang Chen, Gao Jun, and Crystal Huang) opened up play at the Peking University Gymnasium in the event's first round action on Wednesday morning against the number one team in their group and the tournament's second seed, Singapore (Li Jia Wei, Wang Yue Gu, Feng Tianwei).  The initial line-up had America's world-ranked (WR) #25, the most dominant American player for much of the last decade, against WR #7, Singapore's Wang Yue Gu.  Gao took the second game 11-7, after losing the first 6-11.  The Singaporean, however, was too strong and swept the last two games to win the match 3-1 (scores: 7-11, 11-6, 8-11, 4-11).

Wang Chen also came in the underdog against Singapore's third-strongest, WR #9, but put up a very valiant fight.  This being her debut at an Olympic Games, Wang opened up a bit out of rhythm and lost the first game easily, 2-11.  She rallied back hard for the remainder of the match, taking the second game 11-8.  Feng Tianwei, a strong attacker from both sides with a particularly dangerous forehand, was relentless in her topspins and won game three while sparing only four points.  The Singaporean also opened up game four with a quick lead but when Wang Chen closed the gap at down 5-7, the Singapore bench called a time out.  Wang kept it within two to three points the rest of the stretch until making her move in a string of well-played points to even the score at 9-all.  She fought to stave off two match points, and held a couple of game points of her own, but in the end the higher-ranked Feng Tianwei had the upper hand.  Feng Tianwei wins the match 3-1 (scores: 2-11, 11-8, 4-11, 13-15).

Crystal Huang also made her Olympic debut in the doubles match, partnering with Gao Jun.  In the teams format, the player who sat out the first two singles match must play doubles, and the coach may select the other doubles player from the remaining two, though each athlete is only allowed to play a total of two matches in any team tie.  Singapore selected to play their top two ranked players, bringing back Wang Yue Gu to the table to partner with Singapore number one, WR #6 Li Jia Wei.  The Singapore team began the match with a dominant showing in the first game, winning 4-11, as they were constantly on the attack and left few opportunities for the Americans to score.  Wang Yue Gu and Li Jia Wei jumped out to a very quick six point lead at the start of the second game before Gao Jun and Crystal Huang found some rhythm to get back into the game before narrowly losing, 9-11.  A few unforced errors on the American side coupled with the consistency of the Singaporean team put the third game and the match in the favor of the latter (scores: 5-11, 9-11, 7-11).

It was a difficult team match for the Americans, as all three Singapore players currently rank in the top ten in the world and are favorites to contest the gold medal against the Chinese.  Team USA looks to rebound in their second match against the second seeds in Group B, the Netherlands.  A win is almost certainly needed here in order to keep the US team in medal contention.