DOHA, 8 March 2004 — China’s position as a table tennis superpower remained intact after their men’s team handed out a 3-0 beating to Germany to take gold at the world championships here yesterday.
Teenager Wang Hao squared up to Timo Boll in the opening rubber, and perhaps feeling the effects of his heroics in getting his team this far the German capitulated tamely in straight sets.
Then it was the turn of Ma Lin, with Christian Suss at the other end of the table.
Suss, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Boris Becker, put up stoic resistance against the world’s top player after losing the first set he raced to a 5-0 lead in the second, winning it 11-8.
But Ma then took control, and despite not playing at his very best his attacking right hand top spin had Suss on the defensive — in one rally if the German had been pushed any further away from the table he was in danger of feeling the waters of the Gulf lapping about his feet.
World No. 2 Wang Liqin then secured China’s victory with a 3-1 verdict over Zoltan Fejer-Konnerth, some 68 rungs below the Sydney gold medalist in the rankings.
Fejer-Konnerth had two set points for a 2-1 lead but Wang saved both, took the third set, and then wrapped up the game and the world title on the third of his five match points in the next. While China were taking possession of their 14th men’s team gold and their 96th world title overall Germany mirrored their best ever finish, a silver medal picked up on home turf in Munich in 1969 when they were beaten by another Asian side, Japan.
As finals go this was a peculiar affair as it came just 48 hours after Germany were routed by the champions, so it came as no surprise that German coach Istvan Korpa and his players were unable to come up with a quick-fix solution to crack the Chinese puzzle.
Korpa’s task was all the harder given that Ma and company had the benefit of an extra day’s preparation while the Europeans had to knuckle down to beat the South Koreans to earn the right to a second shot at the title.
Despite this defeat Germany can look back on these championships with their heads held high. As the table tennis circus now sets its sights on the Olympics only a flat-earth believer would challenge the prediction of yet another Chinese romp come the Games in Athens.
