The semifinal was held on April 28, and
China scored a very difficult victory over South Korea. Liu
Guozheng had a superb performance: after defeating Oh in the
first match, he scored the ultimate pressure-packed 2-1 win over
Korean ace Kim Taek Soo to lead China into the finals of the
Swaythling Cup competition.
China put in an unusual line-up: Kong was in first position,
Liu Guozheng in second, and Ma Lin in third. They faced Oh, Kim
and Ryu, in that order. In the first match, Liu obviously got
into the game quickly, constantly attacking Oh's middle with
powerful loops, and opened a 10-5 lead. Then Oh tried to change
tactics, but his power and techniques were both at a lesser
level, and committed numerous errors. He lost the first game
12-21.
The second game was much closer. Liu played a steady game to control the opponent, but Oh used the very wide-angled shots to move the much shorter Liu around. The score was tied at 15-all. At this critical point, both sides tried to control the short balls in order to attack first. Liu showed his advantages in techniques and confidence, and scored a close 21-18 win. China was up 1-0.
The second match was between Kong and
Kim. Kong tried to place the ball to Kim's backhand, but Kim was
able to turn around and attack with his powerful forehand. It was
a contest of speed and power, and Kim had the edge. Kong then
switched to short backhand serves, with accurate placement to
start the attack, and drew to a tie. But Kim kept up his fierce
forehand attacks, and Kong did not have any answer. Kim won the
first game 21-16.
In the second game, Kim played with
great excitement, and Kong appeared over-conservative. With Kong
behind 1-6, Cai called a time-out. But facing Kim's battle shouts
and his dominating step-around forehand loops, Kong did not have
the spirits or the power to turn the game around, and lost 17-21.
Now the match score was even at 1-1.
The third match was the critical one of the tie, with Ma Lin facing the much lower-ranked Ryu Seung Min. Both were right-handed looping penholders, and Ma had a strong record against Ryu in the past. This was a contest of who had more speed and who could change the lines of attack better. Ma's backhand loops and Ryu's backhand blocks were all of very high caliber. Ma was able to pull away, and won the first comfortably at 21-12.
In the second game, both sides were trying to pin the opponent on his backhand. Ma showed some impatience, and Ryu took advantages of his mistakes to grap a big lead. But then Ma came to life when the game was on the line, and tied it at 19-all. Now he persevered with his attacks and scored the last 2 points to win 21-19. China was now up 2-1.
The fourth match pitted Kong against Oh, both having lost the early match. This was a contest to see who could step out of the shadow of defeat first. In the first game, both sides were playing tight, and every point was hard-fought. The game went to deuce. At the end, Oh was more aggressive, and won 26-24.
In the second game, both sides stuck to its strength of
forehand looping down the opponent. Compared to Kong, Oh showed
more power and the ability to frequently vary the lines of
attacks. He finally won 21-18 to even up the match at 2-2.
In the decisive 5th match, the young Chinese star Liu Guozheng faced long-time Korean ace Kim Taek Soo. In the beginning, both sides were attacking ferociously. The young but mature Liu's strategy was to avoid Kim's forehand and attack his backhand. But Kim played at a superb level, attacking Liu's serves with impunity, to take a 21-16 lead.
In the 2nd game, Kim was playing like a man possessed. He controlled the game with his step-around forehand power-loops. Cai called the time-out, and Liu now played with abandonment to come back and lead the game at 17-13. But Kim fought back to tie at 18-18. The score seesawed, and the game was deuced. Kim repeatedly got to a game point, but everytime Liu saved it. Finally, a huge forehand loop-kill gave Liu a 24-22 win to extend the match.
The third game was an extremely tough contest. Both sides now were familiar with the opponent's strategy, so it came down to a contest of willpower. In the beginning, Kim with his experience and his fierce attacks, held a slim lead. But Liu did not give up, and crawled back into the game, a point at a time. The score was tied at 6-all, 8-all, 11-all, 12-all and 13-all. Then Kim pulled ahead to lead 19-16. Victory appeared to be within reach of the Koreans. Then amazingly Liu came back to tie at 19-all. Kim had his match point again at 20-19, but Liu saved it.. After deuce, the game was tied repeatedly, with Liu saving match-point after match-point. Finally, Liu got his first lead, and took the last point to win 25-23. Game, set and match to China.
China will now face Belgium in the final match on April 28.
Photos (courtesy of sina.com.cn), from top: 1. Teammates mobbed Liu Guozheng after the last point. 2. Kong forehand looping. 3. Liu and his powerful forehand. 4. Kim suffering the gut-wrenching loss. 5. Liu cashing in his first game point in the second game.
Chung's notes: Kim is a hero, no matter what the outcome of the match turned out. He has the ability to play a level higher than his usual best against China, and that is the rare quality of a true fighter. Kim lost because he faced the emerging superstar Liu who was just as tough mentally as anyone in the game, and because he did not get the little bit of luck at the end that he needed to finish China. Even though he had to live with this loss, he should have no regrets about his performance.
Is it optical illusion? The photos of Liu at the end showed
him to be a little slimmer. Maybe he lost significant weight
during the match?
After the close victory, team leader Li Furong,
coach Cai and the players talked about the match. Li said that he
had been in table-tennis for over 40 years, and this is the first
time he experienced such a exciting and dramatic contest. In this
match Kim had 7 match points to finish Liu. Li also highly
praised Liu's perseverance under these extremely difficult
conditions. Li said that through this match, Liu had a valuable
opportunity to fully mature as a player.
Cai said that when the score was tied at 2-2, he was really worried that they might lose today's semifinal. Especially in the second game, when Liu was behind 3-8. He called the time-out to tell Liu to change. Because Liu's strength and Kim's strength were roughly the at the same level, he wanted Liu to use his lesser skills to go against Kim's lesser skills. Since Liu was in the disadvantaged position, he might as well change to confuse the opponent. Cai also said that it was so difficult to play at today's level, and that Liu , ever since he played against Sweden in Kuala Lumpur, had this opportunity to play at such a competitive level that he would be helped tremendously in his maturation process.
After the match Kong said that if China were to lose, he would
regret this for the rest of his life. Ma said jokingly that Liu
has saved his life. Ma also felt that as the 3rd player, he
came up after Kong had lost the second match, and he was able to
play his strengths to win the match.
Liu said that under those very difficult conditions, his only thought was to play with determination, and to play hard. Especially after the game went to deuce. If he were a little hesitant, or a little soft, he would have lost the match.
Some additional comments from experts:
Li Furong:
1. This match is the best Swaythling Cup match to date, and
probably no other match in the future could take its place.
2. This match was wonderful to watch. It fully showcased the
attractiveness of the sport.
3. Liu Guozheng is the pride of the Chinese team.
4. Kim will regret this loss for the rest of his life.
Zhang Zhilin (team advisor and ex-head coach):
1. Absolutely wonderful match. Absolutely the highest level.
2. Kim was a little nervous at the end. There was a semi-high
ball that froze him.
Coach Cai:
1. Words could not describe this match. This was the most
exciting match in my 11-year coaching career.
2. The victory did not come easy. I am very proud to have such
great players.
3. The Koreans are winners, too.
(Courtesy of www.cn-tt.com)
