Hong Kong threaten China in table tennis

http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/fri/dec8s3.htm

Hong Kong threaten China in table tennis


DOHA (AFP) - Hong Kong clinched gold in the men's doubles while China took the women's title as the Red Army's dominance of table tennis at the Asian Games came under threat on Wednesday.

With two titles already secure, China's Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia defeated Hong Kong's Tie Ya Na and Zhang Rui 4-1 in a spirited match.

The Hong Kong pair, who downed China's Wang Nan and inexperienced Chen Qing earlier Wednesday in the semifinal, took the first set easily.

But the number one seeds simply upped the tempo in response, fighting back for a 4-1 victory.

China arrived in Doha seeking to cement their reputation as the world's best paddlers after taking just three of seven gold on offer at the last Games.

They quickly won the team titles here, blanking Singapore in the women's final and South Korea in the men's.

But their attempts at a gold-medal clean sweep were derailed when Hong Kong's Ko Lai Chak and Li Ching defeated China's Ma Lin and Chen Qi in the men's doubles in a reverse result of the Athens Olympics final. The Hong Kong Olympic silver medallists had earlier dispensed with another Chinese pair Ma Long and Wang Hao in a tense semifinal match.

The southern territory has a chance of another gold on Thursday when Tie takes on Guo in the women's singles after upsetting Wang Nan on her way to the final. Tie fought a ferocious battle against the three-time world champion before emerging with a 4-3 victory, her first against the world number three.

A surprised Tie, ranked three here, said she had decided before the match to take a risky stand against the world number three and play courageous shots.