After worrrying about her opponent all night, Chen Jing found out that the Hungarian Krisztina Toth was not as strong as she had expected.
Chen usually had no problems with Toth, but this year Toth showed a lot of improvements, and had beaten Wang Nan and Liu Ju. When Toth's on, she can beat anyone. Today Chen knew that she had to take the initiative to suppress Toth, so she started attacking right from the beginning and not let her opponent have any chance. The strategy was successful, and she led 12-4 in the first game, which she finally won at 21-14.
The same strategy worked in the second game and Chen opened a 12-2 lead. Finally she won the game at 21-9. In the third game, Toth started all-out attacking and led 6-2 at one point. Then in the mid-game Chen started a comeback, tied it at 9-all, and then never gave up the lead, winning it at 21-14. She will face Qianhong He-Gotsch, who is Chen's favorite opponent.
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While Chen won easily after worrying about the match all night, Chiang had no such worries, but faced a much different Kreanga. Although he ended up with a 3-0 victory, it was not easy.
In the past Chiang had beaten Kreanga with no big difficulties, but today he found Kreanga played very differently. Kreanga now has a different serve, with sidespin, and coming from a different angle that makes it hard to return. His style is also changed: instead of all-out attacking, he would use slow and high bouncing balls to break up Chiang's rhythm.
Playing his first singles game, Chiang at first could not find the right pace, and struggled to tie at 9. Then it was a see-saw affair. Kreanga had 2 game points after deuce, and Chiang saved those. Finally Chiang won at 25-23.
The second game saw Chiang play much looser. He won at 21-12. In the 3rd game, Chiang was ahead most of the game, but get caught up at 20-all. After deuce, Chiang won at 24-22, advancing to the next round.
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Singapore woman Jing Jun Hong emerged victorious, after a 71-minute battle against Geng Lijuan from Canada, with scores of 16-21, 25-23, 13-21, 22-20, and 23-21, and moves into the round of 8.
Jing played tenaciously and courageously, coming from behind many times, and it was a great performnace.
37-year-old Geng was very successful with her serve-and-attack game and scored repeatedly. But Jing was patient and finally prevailed. She was behind 1-2 in games and ahead 20-16 in the 4th game, but Geng caught up. Then Jing took initiative and won at 22-20. In the critical 5th game, Jing was behind at 2-6, 5-9, and 13-19, but finally tied it at 20-all. After deucing, Jing took advantage of her serves and won 22-20.
Jing will face new Romanian star Steff for a berth in the semi-finals. The latter defeated Swedish player Swensson in a 5-game match.
Jing could not calm down for a long time after her match. "This was a very tough battle. All the games I won after deuce. Geng played extremely well, and I was always catching up. Her serves and attacks were powerful, and controlled my game," she said.
32-year-old Jing said that in the last game she was aggressive, and helped by luck. "At first I could not keep up with Geng, and was following her pace. It was difficult," she said.
About her next opponent, Jing said that she had beat Steff in the World Teams this year, but since Steff is still on the rise, it will not be easy this time.
The 23rd seed said that after several close matches, she felt a bit tired. But she will persevere and hope to beat the next opponent.
The other Singaporean Li Jia Wei lost to Wang Nan after a 5-game match, with scores of 21-18, 18-21, 21-19, 21-23 and 16-21.
This was an unfortunate loss for Li, who led 20-16 in the 4th game. One more point and she would have scored the big upset.
But Wang has so much big-game experience, and calmly won the next 4 points, and the game.
Afterwards Li was broken-hearted, and said that she played too tight when she was ahead, and let Wang get away. "Losing to Wang is a normal result, since she is the world champion and more experienced. This match also shows my lack of experience, and my inability to control the game while ahead. I have to work on these things," she said.
Wang Nan said that they are very familiar with each other's style, so she was prepared for a tough match. "The 4th game was very crucial. I was behind 16-20 and could not lose another point. I could only play a point at a time. It was a very close win," Wang said.
Chinese women's head-coach Lu Yuanxing said that the close match is very good preparation for the subsequent matches. "Li uses pips-out on her forehand, and that's a very rare attacking style these days. Everytime Wang faces her, it is a struggle. It is more than a match od skill, but also mental toughness and spirit. Whoever stays calm and cool wins," Lu said.
Wang Nan will next face Chire Koyama who defeated Tong Fei Ming in a 5-game match.
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Kong and Liu just barely survived, and Liu Guozheng took 5 games to beat the younger Saive. Sun Jin was upset, and Wang Nan came back from the dead. When the reporters asked coach Lu Lin for comments, "Everything is normal," he said.
Lu said that the last 2 days were normal. "Many people think very highly of the Chinese team, but we do not really have that many advantages. Especially in men's singles, everyone starts at the same level, and it all comes down to how well one performs on the court. Liu/Kong's opponents were very strong, and had a 1-1 reocord against them. It took a lot for Liu/Kong to come back. Liu Guozheng's opponent was also a great European player. Jing who beat Sun had beaten Deng before, so that was not an upset."
Lu thinks that the Chinese have to stay calm , level-headed and adopt the right strategies. "All the opponents from now on are tough; without hard work we will not win."
Today I feel a bit tired. I played 2 matches: a singles and a doubles. At 10 a.m., I faced Johnny Huang in singles, who did not pose any problem. Scores were 21-14, 21-12 and 21-16.
In the afternoon we played doubles, beating Kim/Ong, whom we thought were very tough opponents, 3-1. The first game was a little difficult. In the second game, they only scored 9 points. In the third game they took advantage of us relaxing and won. We finished the match by winning the 4th game. The scores were 21-18, 21-9, 10-21 and 21-10, and we move on to the semi-finals.
In the last 2 days, the scariest match was the one we played against the Polish pair, and I have to talk about that again. We finally squeaked out a 3-2 win, but we were behind 1-2. The last 2 games were very close and exciting. We almost lost the 4th game. This pair plays very well together and gave us a lot of pressure. It was a memorable match.
The next several days I have 10 a.m. matches, so I need to get up earlier and prepare. Our opponents together in doubles is Chila/Gatien, and they are a strong team.
Click here for a photo of Kong (with his new hair-cut) and Liu.
Yesterday there were several exciting come-back victories. The winners were naturally exuberant, and the losers left quiet and dejected. Unfortunately Chiang and Chang belonged to the latter group.
With tears in their eyes Chiang Peng-Lung and Chang Yen-Su left the court, still not believing that they were losers. Chang's Olympic mission is over. Chiang will have to focus on the singles, facing Liu Guozheng today.
Chiang/Chang faced Yoo/Ryu from Korea in the round of 8, and led 2-1 after3 games. In the fourth, they have a matchpoint, but at this crucial point, Chang blocked out of bounds. Taking advantage of the break, the Koreans scored the next 2 points to tie up the match.
In the 5th, Chiang/Chang were under tremendous pressure and played too conservatively. They were pinned down by the Koreans, until at 12-17, they started attacking and caight up to 18-19. But then the Koreans scored 2 beautiful points and won 21-18, destroying their Olympian dream.
Yoo, the first Olympic mens singles champion, is the commentator for the Korean table-tennis broadcasts. The reporters had a brief interview with Yoo, after he spent 15 minutes signing autographs in the stands.
Yoo picks Kong, Liu Guoliang and Samsonov as favorites. When asked about fellow countryman Kim, he said, "No chance. The Chinese are too strong." He also saw the Li Jia Wei match against Wang Nan, and was impressed by Li.
Yoo is now studying for a PE degree, and is also coaching a table tennis team. He plans to coach in the national team next year.
