KOBE, Japan, 26 September 2004 — China’s world No.1 and former champion Wang Liqin was knocked out of the Japan Open Table Tennis Tournament yesterday, losing to Frenchman Damien Eloi.
The 2001 world champion and Asian Games gold medalist, who won the Japan Open in 2000, suffered a surprising 11-9, 6-11, 11-4, 8-11, 10-12, 11-9, 9-11 defeat to his 47th-ranked opponent.
Wang, who also won bronze at the Athens Olympics, became the biggest casualty this week after his teammate Wang Hao, the Olympics silver medalist, lost to Adrian Crisan of Romania on Friday.
Eloi, the team silver medalist in the 1997 world championships and the winner at the 1998 Swedish Open, now takes on another Chinese, Sydney Olympic champion Kong Linghui in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Leung Chu-yan of Hong Kong shocked current world champion Werner Schlager of Austria 11-7, 7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 13-11 to book a place against Chuan Chih-yuan of Taiwan.
Chuan, the Asian Games silver medalist, defeated Jean-Michel Saive of Belgium 12-10, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 4-11, 9-11, 11-8, with China’s Ma Lin and Chen Qi, Timo Boll of Germany and Crisan also reaching the quarterfinals. There were no major surprises in the women’s singles with Athens Olympic gold medalist Zhang Yining and Sydney Olympic champion Wang Nan leading the field into the quarterfinals.
