From:Xinhuanet Updated:2006-04-30
China's Wang Liqin acts during a quarter-final match with France at the 48th World Team Table Tennis Championships in Bremen, north Germany, April 29, 2006. China beat France 3-0. (Xinhua Photo)
BREMEN, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese men table tennis players crushed Saturday their quarter-final rivals France 3-0 to make semi-finals of the 48th World Team Table Tennis Championships in Bremen, Germany.
Wang Liqin, holder of world and Olympic titles, opened the winning run by beating Damien Eloi 3-1.
Ma Lin encountered the first strong resistance from France's Patrick Chila but still winning 3-2.
Ma lost the second and third games with 4-11 and 9-11, though he managed to raise his score from 3-8 down to 9-11 in the third game. He achieved a 11-7 victory in the first game.
In the breath-taking fifth game, Ma raced away to a 7-3 lead but lost his upper-handed position as the Frenchman gradually caught up.
Ma secured his victory 13-11 in the end, putting the Chinese team 2-0 over France.
Novice Chen Qi beat his rival Dany Lo with 3-1.
Chinese men's coach Liu Guoliang told reporters after the games that Ma was a bit nervous at the beginning.
"The playing style of both Ma Lin and Chila is similar, both are hard to handle," Liu said.
Chila told Chinese reporters that Ma made a bad start, which gave him the chances of winning two games.
He also thought that Ma was a little nervous at the beginning.
At the same time, host German men table tennis players also entered semi-finals after defeating their quarter-final rivals Russia 3-0.
Christian Suess, Timo Boll and Bastian Steger respectively played against Alexei Smirnov, Fedor Kuzmin and Kirill Skachkov.
Suess and Boll both won at 3-1, while Steger scored 3-2 over 18-year-old Skachkov.
Germany will face China in semi-finals Sunday.
"We are not lucky to meet China in the semi-finals," Boll told Xinhua after the match.
He said the German team would try hard to exert to their best in fighting China.
Hong Kong of China will meet Austria and South Korea face the Czech Republic in the afternoon to decide the other two semi-finalists.
Chinese men table tennis players crushed Saturday their quarter-final rivals France 3-0 to make semi-finals of the 48th World Team Table Tennis Championships in Bremen, Germany. (Xinhua Photo)
China's Ma Lin returns the ball during a quarter-final match with France at the 48th World Team Table Tennis Championships in Bremen, north Germany, April 29, 2006. China beat France 3-0. (Xinhua Photo)
China's Chen Qi returns the ball during a quarter-final match with France at the 48th World Team Table Tennis Championships in Bremen, north Germany, April 29, 2006. China beat France 3-0. (Xinhua Photo)
