Chinese Women Dominate in Singles Play
August 20, 2008
The Chinese women’s table tennis players continued to dominate in singles play on Wednesday. They beat their over-matched opponents in straight games easily on course for more medals. The defending gold medalist Zhang Yining beat Belarus’ Viktoria Pavlovich in a breezy 25 minutes.
Zhang spanked Pavlovich with wicked speed and ferocious attacks picking her opponent apart one point at a time. Playing this strong she is likely to advance to the final round with very little resistance along the way. Frankly, her 34th ranked opponent didn’t stand a chance against the best in the world at the top of her game.
Even still, the returning champ is critical of her play and a humble victor. “When she chops at the ball, the shots are long and have a lot of spin and she doesn’t hit them high. It’s difficult to hit them hard,” Zhang said following her 11-7, 11-2, 11-7, 11-5 win.
Although many expect her to be the favorite to repeat for gold Zhang believes the singles play to be a challenge, especially because it is a single elimination tournament style play, one match lost and you are out. Zhang moves on to play No. 12 Ai Fukuhara of Japan in the Round of 16 on Thursday.
