On April 29, China played against Belgium for the
team title. Ma Lin scored a 2-1 win over J-M Saive. Then Liu
Guozheng beat P. Saive 2-0. Finally Kong beat Belgium's Bratanov
2-0 to end the contest with a 3-0 match score to regain the
Swaythling Cup.
China's lineup was unexpected. The young players Liu and Ma played the top two positions, and veteran Kong was in the third spot. Belgium played the same lineup as before: J-M Saive, P. Saive and Bratanov.
The first match pitted Ma against J-M Saive. Right from the start, there were numerous counter-looping rallies and the scores were tight. At 14-16, Saive magically scored the next 5 service points, and won the first game 21-18. In the second game, Ma raised his initiative to serve and attack. He mixed his short balls with long ones, and jumped to huge leads of 11-4, then 15-5 and 18-7. He won the game easily at 21-7.
In the deciding 3rd game, Ma saved a point by returning over 10 of Saive's smashes, and therefore showing his ability to defend from far. After 5-5, the scores seesawed: 11-11, 13-13, and 15-15. At this critical time, Ma Lin played at his peak level, and scored on two counter hits of Saive's loops. His short placements and long pushes kept scoring points for him. In Saive's service rotation, Ma scored all 5 points to finally win 21-15. China was now ahead 1-0.
In the second match, China's number-1 player Liu Guozheng
played against P. Saive. Liu was behind 5-10 in the first game.
Then Liu got into the game and quickly tied at 14-14, and then
16-16. Now the stronger Liu was able to control the game, and won
21-18.
In the second game, P. Saive made many unusual shots, and led 7-3. Then Liu made the adjustments, and tied the game at 10-10, 12-12 and 14-14. He opened a 16-14 lead. Just like the first game, Liu scored 3-2 in P. Saive's service rotation, and then used his own serve-and-attacks to close out the game 21-17. China was up 2-0.
Kong started the 3rd match strongly against Bratanov to open a 5-0 lead. But then he lost the next 7 points. The swings were surprisingly great. Kong did not showcase his steady-yet-aggressive style, and was not able to stop Bratanov's attacks. The scores were tight. After 15-15, Kong played aggressively and won 4 of the next 5 points. Finally he won 21-18.
In the second, Kong was conservative after opening a
4-1 lead. He could not put separation between himself and his
opponent, and even made a rare service error at 14-13. At 14-16,
Bratanov used his serves to close to 17-18. At 19-18, Cai called
a time-out. With Kong leading 20-19, he served a backhand deep
serve, and Bratanov's loop was off the table. 21-19 to Kong.
China has won the Swaythling Cup again.
In today's contest, Ma and Liu played well. They were mentally
calm, and have now become the nucleus of the team. Kong also
showed that he is still capable of winning with the big ball. The
Chinese team is still the one to beat.
After the semifinal match against South Korea was over, Chinese head-coach Cai Zhenhua, still feeling the scare, said: " This is the most exciting match in my 11 years of coaching the Chinese team". Li Furong, sports minister and leader of the Chinese contingent in Osaka, also said, "This is the closest match I have seen in my over 40 years in table tennis".
The two experts highly praised the performance of Liu Guozheng, who saved the team from the jaws of defeat. Kong, who lost 2 points, said "Liu saved my life". This very close call should give everyone food for thought.
When Liu was struggling against Kim, Waldner, who was watching the contest, told reporters: "This afternoon I said that China would have a tough time against Korea. You believe me now?" He explained to reporters that the Koreans have similar techniques to the Chinese, and they also have a tough fighting spirit. If Sweden had made it to the final, he would rather face China, since the Koreans are very "sticky". You give them a little chance, and they can defeat you.
The other Swedish player Hakansson was puzzled about Kong's less-than-usual level of play. He thought that Kong was much worse than when he was in the Olympics. But Hakansson still thought that Kong's techniques were world-class, and that we would still see Kong in the finals.
After the match, Cai said that the difficulties China faced in the Korean match were much higher than expected. Even though they knew that it would be a tough match, they thought that they would win 3-1 at least. Since he took over the team, China has never lost to Korea (Chung's notes: except in World Team Cup, 1995 in Atlanta).
When asked about Kong, Cai said that he made two mistakes. First, he did not think clearly. His rubber was a little slippery, and he failed to make the adjustments on ball placements. Second, his first-3-shots lacked power, and did not create enough chances for him. When rallying, which was Kong's strength, he lacked exploxiveness on his backhand.
When asked why he played Liu first, Cai said that he totally trusted Liu's ability. In the last Worlds, Liu scored an important point when the team was behind 0-2, and gave the team a chance to come back. Among the team members, Liu's condition was getting better and better as the tournament progressed. Winning this match would be a great breakthrough for Liu.
Belgian coach Wang Dayong, who was in the stands, said that in
the big ball era, the Chinese players' backhand and counter
looping were not as powerful as the Koreans. He said that If Liu
did not have a super performance, it would be difficult to say
who would win. (Chung's notes: Were it not for Liu's majestic
performance, China would have lost, and anyone could see that.)
Even though Sweden lost to Belgium and was kept out of the final match against China, Cai said: "We sincerely thank the Swedish team. In the last 20 years or so, the Swedish team has continually motivated us, and forced us to improve and grow. Even though Sweden missed the finals, it is still a world-class team".
The rivalry between Sweden and China has elevated the sport
and accelerated its development in Europe. For this, Cai was
extremely thankful. Even though China is facing another team in
the finals, they would still respect Sweden, and would do their
best in the finals.
Chinese expert Qiu Qiongwei (first Chinese women's singles winner) watched the team final on television, and said afterwards that the secret to the Chinese domination is the great variety of styles of the Chinese players.
In yesterday's contest, China beat North Korea 3-0 and won the team title for the 14th time. Qiu said that China won comfortably because the Chinese have multiple styles, and their players are more all-round with no obvious weakness. Wang Nan's specialty is looping accompanied by fast-attack, with great variation in ball placement. Zhang is also a looper and a fast-attacker, combining steadiness with aggressiveness. Li Ju is the classical example of the more masculine style, focusing on power and spin.
North Korea made it to the finals, so they were a very strong
team. Qiu said that all their players have pips-out or long-pips
on their backhand, and they excelled in speed and backhand
techniques. But their weakness is their forehand. The result is
if China knows how to play one of their players, it will know how
to play all of them, since they are so similar.
After Sweden lost to Belgium in the semifinals, Swedish newspapers unanimously reported that this signaled the end of an era in Swedish table-tennis.
Sweden's biggest morning newspaper (Daily News) said that back in 1992, some experts were already saying that the golden era of Sweden was over. But then, in the following 8 years, Waldner and Persson had extended the Swedish glory, until the last Worlds upset victory over China. Now the era is declared over, because the chance of Waldner and Persson leading their team to Qatar three years later is extremely remote.
The newspaper quoted Waldner: "Sweden has won over 20 international team titles. All things must come to an end".
The other major newspaper (Sweden Daily) said that since 1989, when Sweden beat China 5-0 for the team title, it only missed the Worlds final once in 1997 because it failed to win the group and was eliminated by China in the 1/8's. Sweden was in the finals of all the other Worlds, until Osaka. "We are witnessing the end of an era. The golden age of Swedish table-tennis is now over".
The biggest paper (Evening News) said that the loss on
Saturday was probably the last chapter of the greatest era in
Swedish table-tennis history. The next Worlds Teams Championship
will be held 3 years later. They highly doubt whether Waldner,
who is over 35 years old now, Persson and Peter Karlsson could
participate in that contest.
On April 28 before the Sweden-Belgium semifinal match, almost everyone expected to see a China Sweden team final. There was not even a Belgian reporter at the Worlds. But Belgian won 3-1, scoring the biggest upset so far in the Worlds this year. Afterwards, the Belgium team was wildly celebrating. Team leader J-M Saive received a congratulatory call from his parents as soon as he stepped off the court. Amidst the congratulation, Saive said that he thanked coach Wang Dayong from China the most.
Saive said that he has been coached by Wang since he was 11 years old. Their relation is more than that of a coach and a student. It is more like that between an older and a little brother, and perhaps between a father and a son. Wang's patient teachings, great experiences and on-the-court guidance had benefited him and Philippe immensely. He and coach Wang had gone through the experience of being eliminated before the semifinals many times, but they have also shared the joys of winning the World Cup and the European league championships.
Saive said that he could not imagine life without Wang, and he believes that they will win more titles in the future. He also said that the Belgian fans would be shocked to find out they have beaten Sweden.
Wang explained why Belgium could upset Sweden. The teams have faced each other many times, so they are very familiar with Sweden. They have carefully calculated all the difficulties they would see in the match. The coaches also told the players not to sigh or give any signs of disappointment when they were behind; they had to be stronger in spirits. More importantly, they paid careful attention to linking their shots together, and not just the first 3 shots.
Saive said modestly that they were lucky to be in the same
half as Sweden. He said that Belgium beat Sweden in the 1997
Worlds, so they have a slight mental edge. The third player
Bratanov said that the team spirits was a big motivation. His
teammates and his coach gave him continuous encouragement so that
as a new player, he was playing at a very high level.
According to a report in the Swedish electronic newspaper Evening News, Waldner predicted that a Chinese player will win the Worlds Men's Singles.
Waldner made that prediction during a chat with the readers. He said that there are 8 to 10 players capable of winning the MS title, but he believes that a Chinese will win, even he hopes otherwise.
When asked about the opponent he fears the most, Waldner said that before it was China's Liu Guoliang, but now he is not afraid of anyone. Liu has the best serves in the world. Waldner also said that Ma Lin is the speediest player he has ever faced. He said that Ma is at least as quick as Jiang Jialiang, maybe even quicker.
On the new service rules, Waldner said that they will not be in effect for another 15 months. He would not know the effects for a while, and maybe the effects would not be major. He is more receptive to the 11-point change. Maybe this could add to spectator interest.
As to what he would be doing next, Waldner said that as long as he still feels the fun and the motivation, he will still play. After his retirement. maybe he will spend some time in China, because he has a contract with a company in Sweden who has business in China. It is also not an impossibility that he will coach the Swedish national team.
When asked whether he is rich, Waldner said that it depends on how you do the calculation. He is satisfied with his income. He also said that he still does not have a driver's license, so he is not thinking about expensive cars yet.
On the younger players, he has hopes on Molin and Lundqvist
that they would step in. Molin is already in the Worlds this
year, and Waldner hopes that he would win a few matches.