China handles Germany with ease for Team Gold
August 19, 2008
China’s Wang Liqin and Wang Hao, the Wang’s, handled Germany with ease for the team gold on Monday. Germany has never once beat China in 18 attempts and the stats keep rolling. China won in three straight 3-0 and remained the dominant team to beat in the world.
There was only but a few tight moments in the match and this came during the play between Ma Lin, world No. 2, and No. 6 Timo Boll. The competition was tough in this match and although the top European threat put up a good fight Lin held strong and took the match. Boll was the strongest threat they felt in this match and for good reason. Boll defeated all three of China’s players during the World Cup in 2005 making him a fan favorite among the home crowd as well.
The medals on Monday marked the first in this new format of team table tennis which replaced the doubles competition. The heavily favored Chinese tend to play up close to the table catching shots and returning them quickly and with wicked precision. Alternatively, the Germans’ style of play betrayed them on Monday who tend to fade away from the table about ten feet and smash with big rolling swings on the ball. Unfortunately, the Chinese are strong from nearly any distance and adapt and conquer better than any in the world. They picked the Germans apart by forcing them to make off-balanced returns.
In the singles play Wang dissected the lanky 19-year-old Dimitrij Ovtcharov beating him handily. Ovtcharov was all over the court chasing Wang’s well-placed and high velocity shots lunging here and there struggling to string together a rally.
The home crowd was in strong support of their Chinese heroes but also gave way to chanting incessantly for the opposing superstar Timo Boll. The spectators were thrilled with the match cheering for the Chinese winning points and even the German’s winning shots. In the end, the Chinese broke the Germans and walked away with yet another gold and the Germans settled for the very respectable silver.
