(Chung's Notes: This is the last of my write-ups from Osaka. I
will be travelling tomorrow, and when I can get internet access
again, I will try to translate some Chinese articles on the
Worlds.)
On this last day of the World Championships, two titles would be decided: the women's doubles and the men's singles.
The women's doubles semifinals were held in the morning, and there really were no surprises. First up was Zhang Yining and Zhang Yingying vs Wang Nan and Li Ju. The two Zhangs played a high risk game, and against the experinced pair of Wang and Li, showed their immaturity. Wang and Li had the control and the power, and the match was a quick 3-0 affair, and, for all practical purposes, over after the first game.. There were some fast and furious points, as one is bound to see when there is a pips-out hitter in the game, but Zhang Yining played surprisingly bad, considering her singles level.
The other semifinal was the more interesting one, and the crowd got into it a lot more. The Japanese pair Takeda/Kawagoe played the second seeded Chinese pair Sun/Yang, and the partisan crowd gave the former every possible encouragement. Sun/Yang won in three straight, and the match was actually more one-sided than the score indicated. Takeda/Kawagoe might be good enough to win against the Europeans and perhaps the Koreans, but were outclassed by the strong Chinese pair. China would now win all 7 titles.
At 4 pm, Wang/Li played Sun/Yang for the WD title. Again there were some spectacular points, and Yang Ying played well, but the match outcome was never in doubt. Wang and Li had too much firepower and control, with their two-sided looping style, and quite easily beat Sun and Yang in 3 games.
Men's Singles Final
The top two seeds of the tournament met in the finals, held at 5 pm. All the higher seeds have beaten their lower-seed opponents in the semis, the quarters and in 7 out of the 8 round-of-16 matches, so this final should have been easy to call. After the first 2 games, however, very few people would have betted against Kong Linghui. Kong won the first 2 games at 11 and 11, and was playing almost perfect table tennis. His strategy appeared to be to try to engage Wang in backhand to backhand rallies and therefore making it hard for Wang to step around and power-loop, since Kong had the control to hit that backhand down the line. Wang played quite evenly with Kong at the start of each of the first 2 games, but then he would rush his shots and fall behind. Kong was winning most of the rallies: his backhand was superb, and he had the excellent footwork to cover his forehand as well as anyone in the world.
Wang changed his shirt after the second game, and took the time to think things over. Down 0-2, he did not appear flustered. In the 3rd game, he changed his strategy. Now he would open by placing his backhands down the line, forcing Kong to play forehand. Wang probably had the strongest forehand in the world, and he was able to exploit that advantage now. He won the third 21-16 after getting a good lead at mid-game and holding on. In the 4th, it was the same: Kong stayed close until 8-8, and then Wang played a stronger and stronger game to distance himself from Kong. Now Wang was winning almost all of the extended rallies. Kong had exceptional control, but did not have the power to play a counter-looping game against Wang, who took the 4th game 21-16.
In the beginning of the 5th, Kong tried to regain momentum. He started the game by taking the first 3 points, and shouting "Sho" after every point won to jack up his spirits. But Wang stayed calm, and just kept doing what worked for him in the last 2 games. Again, Kong now could not keep up with Wang in the rallies, but stayed close until at 11-9, when Wang put in a strong run to finish the game, and the match, at 21-13.
Even though the individual game scores were not that
close, the match was very exciting to watch, because there were a
lot of exceptional rallies, showcasing the explosiveness of Wang
and the backhand control ability of Kong. These were truly
world-class points, and leave no doubt that Kong and Wang are
right now the two best players in the world. Wang just had that
extra power to beat Kong for the world singles title.
What a year for Wang. From not qualifying for the Olympics, after being called "brainless" by his coach because of his losses to Eloi and Matsushita, to winning all but one Pro-Tour events he played in, and finally to being crowned the first world champion of the millenium. He is now totally mature as a player, and has the mental toughness to win all the matches he is supposed to, which is all matches, period. This is one exceptional player, and in technical ability, probably one of the best, if not the best, the world has ever seen.
After the match, Wang buried his head in his towel and cried. No doubt he was feeling the release of the great pressure that has been on him, the fulfilling of a lifelong dream, and also the vindication that he is a great player, by any standard.
(Photo taken by me)