The key was the first match, which I did not play well. I was up 13-7, 15-10, but lost.
After leading 2-1 in games, I was up 20-18 in the 4th and serving, but lost that game. In the 5th game I was behind 4-7. At that time he was used to my serves and my tempo. Fortunately I was able to vary my game effectively and win. I survived another day.
I did not have the initiative today. I have rarely had this uncomfortable, passive, and suspenseful feeling. I am so happy to be able to play for at least another day.
In the doubles we won easily. We played Chila/Gatien 3 times before, with a 2-1 record. Both wins were one-sided, and even in the loss we were ahead in the match. We felt quite comfortable and familiar with their style.
Tomorrow night we will play our old teammates Wang Liqin and Yan Sen. We lost to them in our last warm-up tournament, but it was a very close match. We know each other so well.
Since the gold is in China's hands, we will not feel that much pressure.
I am an Olympic
champion? Am I really standing on top of the podium?
When Li Ju and I beat our teammates Yang/Sun 3-0, I could not believe what was happening before my eyes. Before the match I thought about how to celebrate if we won, but when we did, I felt eveything was happening so fast. After the euphoria passed, I tried to calm down and get ready for the tough tests ahead in singles.
After that close call yesterday against the Korean pair, Li and I played very loose and relaxed today, and that could have been the key to winning the match. We played Yang/Sun often, and we win some and lose some, so it all came down to our performance on the court today. The side that can seize the opportunities will prevail. Li and I played very well together.
In the final, we all played according to the strategy that we developed ourselves; the coaches did not help either side. And we did not dump any points to the other side. The important thing is that we have won both the gold and the silver.
For me, the tournament is half over. The heavier burden is still ahead for me to carry. Tomorrow I will face the '88 Olympic champion Chen Jing. This will be a tough match, but I believe I will achieve what I am capable of achieving.
Because I believe in my ability, and I believe that luck will be with
me. In the last matches, luck has been on my side, and tomorrow it will
be the same way.
Today, after watching Liu Guoliang's match against Rosskopf, she talks about the game.
Maybe because he has an old teammate cheering him on, Liu cleanly beat Rosskopf 3-0, and move into the semifinals. His partner Kong had to struggle earlier to defeat Austrian Schlager 3-2.
The Chinese advance to the medal rounds was not a smooth one. Liu, who is usually superb against Europeans, was behind 0-2 in games, and barely squeaked out a 22-20 win in the 3rd. That turned the match around, but it was a big scare.
"Among the world's top16, it is not unusual to win or lose when playing against each other, because the difference in level is small," Deng said. "I have 18 world titles, but none of them was easy. I had been forced to the cliff's edge many times, barely avoiding elimination."
As to how to overcome danger, Deng thinks that besides superior skills, a level mental state and big game experience are most important.
"Look at Eloi yesterday. In the first 2 games, he was fiercely attacking, and scoring with a high percentage. Liu had his back against the wall, If Eloi could keep up his attacks and his fighting spirits, Liu would have lost.
"But in the 3rd game, while he was ahead, Eloi started thinking differently and tried to finish quick. He started to rush and lose his touch, giving Liu a chance."
Deng feels that the Chinese players are at the same level as the other countries'. Every victory is a hard fought one. But why are the Chinese usually able to laugh at the end?
"Primarily it is because of the stable mentality. Wherether you're ahead or behind, you cannot get nervous. You have to maintain your calm, otherwise you would mess up your thinking and it's all over. Liu keeps winning because he keeps his cool, understands why he is ahead and why he is behind, and what it takes to win."
"You cannot predict you will win," Deng said matter-of-factly. "Winning
is normal, and losing is normal."
Lu said, "Persson executed too well."
Lu thinks that Liu prepared adequately for the match. Both players are at about the same level. Persson's strength is his all-round ability and overall solid play. He is good on both offense and defense. Liu's strength is his 3rd ball play and his ability to vary his shots.
Lu stated that even though Liu won the previous times, they were tight matches. Liu played not too bad today, but Persson played even better. After winning the first game, Liu was ahead 12-6. Then Persson played some superb shots, and that was the key to the match. Persson adjusted very quickly to Liu, and he has an excellent ability to control.
Lu said that Persson was an outstanding player in the past, but did not play well for a long time. But this year he is back, having defeated both Liu Guoliang and Kong in the Worlds Teams.
Liu Guozheng: "I did not seize the chances."
"When I was ahead, I did not take advanatage. When Persson played those superb shots, he had the momentum, and everything became easier for him," Liu said.
Liu thinks that his service return game was average, but today he varied
his returns well and was ahead. But Persson played short shots to his forehand,
and in extended rallies, Liu felt he did not have the upper hand. He tried
to vary the strategy, but was not effective. The opponent was hard to control
once the momentum has swung. Basically Liu has played to his own level,
but Persson executed even better. They key is that he has not taken advantages
of the opportunities given him.
The last couple of days, Kong and I played 2 matches per day. In preparation, Wang/Yan had much more time to work on their teamwork In the warm-up tournament back home, we lost to them. We know each other very well, but they had more time to resolve the problems that may arise in the game, and we did not.
That's not to say that we would lose for sure. All 4 games were very close. The scores were 22-20, 17-21, 21-19, and 21-18. So even though we lost, the 2 pairs are very close in ability.
In the morning quarter-final, I beat Rosskopf 3-0. The match was relatively easy, because I controlled the tempo. Rosskopf had to follow my tempo, and the scores were 21-11, 21-14 and 21-7.
So I hope that tonight's loss will not affect my match against Waldner tomorrow. He is a tough opponent. Now that the doubles are over, I can concentrate on the singles. Especially since we had won the doubles gold before.
Hope to meet Kong in the finals.
The two greatest table tennis stars in the world will fight each other for the ticket to the finals. Liu and Waldner have faced each other 8 times. Every time they left unanswered questions. Every time they left their fans with expectations for the next match.
Liu and Waldner are both "Grand-Slam" winners, but they have never met in the Olympics. So the match tomorrow will attract fans worldwide.
Liu surprisingly beat Waldner in the '92 China Open, and came to fame overnight. Three years later in Tianjin Liu beat Waldner again. In the 1996 World Cup, Liu repeated his victory. Since then Liu has defeated Waldner 3 times in the Pro-Tours.
Last year Waldner said he never lost confidence against Liu. "Maybe tomorrow I will beat him, and start a win streak", he said. That proved to be true. This year Waldner beat Liu to regain the World Team title. In Tianjin last July, Waldner once more overcame Liu, who was desperately trying to re-establish himself.
Waldner is a table-tennis genius. He combined the Chinese speed with the European spin. At the "old" age of 35, he still maintained his strong spirits and skills. This is worth studying by the Chinese professionals.
The Swedes have said before the Olympics that they have "solved" Liu. Chinese coach Cai said that Liu's skills and styles have changed, and that he will let everyone see a newer, full-of-spirit Liu Guoliang.
We do not have to wait long.
In tonight's
men's doubles final, Wang/Yan defeated the doubles dream-team, reigning
Olympic champions, Liu and Kong. Afterwards they calmly discussed the match.
Wang said that due to the systematic closed training, they have made great improvements in the technical skills and the ability to adapt on the court. They made up their minds that no matter how hard things may turn out, they will hang on to win the points back. In the match they maintained their calmness, and did not waste time thinking unnecessary thoughts.
Yan said: "We have prepared well. First we have to control their first 3 balls. We asked ourselves to not give points away. Because they are so good with short balls, we try to play as much "above table" as possible and pin them down with loops. That way, they will be very even against us. Tonight we played "above table" a lot".
In the match, Yan and Wang were in constant discussions, and received a yellow card. Yan thought that maybe they talked too much, but the key was not that. "Mainly it was because we talked before we served. If we talked while we were preparing to serve, that would have been no problem", he said.
They thought that they did not worry about winning or losing during the match, but to play each and every point well. "I think the match will eventually pick a winner. When the last point is played, we believe we will succeed. Finally we got our wishes".
Although the finals has not been played yet, Li Ju and I have both won our semi-finals. For us, we have finished our jobs.
We have prepared in detail for tonight's match against Chen Jing, and was ready for the worst. She was in 2 Olympics, so she has more experience. But I have my advantages, too. Skills-wise, I am not afraid of her. And I have the age advantage. As long as I can hang on in the first 3 games, I will have better chances in the end.
The first game I lost by 9 points. That was unexpected. But I did not get rattled; there were still 4 more games to go.The coach told me so, too. In the 2nd game, I lost some key points, but at the end I survived. Then the game turned in my favor, and I took the last 2 easily.
It's worth mentioning that because of the long 1st game, the expedite system was in use starting from the second game. That did not bother me, because I mainly play rallies (meaning not depending on serve and attacks).
Tomorrow Li and I will play realxed. Our coaches can start taking a
vacation tonight.
Cai thinks that Kong and Schlager both have their strengths. The opponent (Schlager) played very aggressively, especially after he figured out the spin on Kong's serves. He attacked decisively and accurately. Kong today showed a good mental quality: when behind, he withstood the pressure, and finally prevailed. Kong has 2 things to learn from this match:
"First, Kong needs to adjust his thinking. He was too conservative when ahead, and did not initiate the attacks enough, but hoped to wait for the opponents to make an error first. So when Schlager caught up, Kong was a little too tight.
"Second, strategically Kong did not attack Schlager's forehand enough. First few balls were all right, but he did not do as well in extended rallies in the first 3 games. When Schlager varied the shot placements and the tempo, Kong looked a little passive,
"In addition, starting from the 4th game, Kong opened up his attacks to Schlager's right side, increased speed and variations on placements, and finally won the match.
"Liu obviously had the upper hand against Rosskopf, but the ease with
which Liu won was enexpected. Rosskopf had fierce attacks, and tried to
kill the ball immediately. Liu's game centered on variations on placement
and tempo to control the opponent, and was very effective."
On September 20, we won our first match 3-2, and it was a very tough one.
Among the 8 qualifier pairs, the Polish pair is the one we least wanted to face. The first game we won easily, pinning them down throughout the game. Maybe it was because they had not gotten into the game. In the 2nd game, they showed their strengths. Liu and I did not handle their serves well, and made quite a few errors. We only scored 12 points in that game. In the 3rd game we still could not change our passive position. They placed themselves extremely well when they served; if we returned the ball with a little less quality, it got smashed. And we did not serve well. So we ended up losing that game 19-21. In the 4th game, we were behind, and could not figure out a suitable strategy to control them. I had a brief thought that we might lose today, but that was just a flash in my mind. Liu and I worked on our strategy, and we did not have to encourage each other. We knew that if we played one match and got eliminated, we could not live with it.
When we were behind 10-15 in the 4th, it was Liu's turn to serve, and his serves had the positive results we needed. He used almost all of his "state-of-the-art" techniques. Finally we bore down and won both that game and the next at 21-18. Right after the game, Liu said, "That's great, now we are in form". And just like that, we played much better against Kim and Ong the next day. Our spirits were much higher. We will play Gatien and Chila next. They are both left-handers, and one of only 2 pairs in the world that play that way. The other pair is Keen/Heister from the Netherlands. Gatien plays fast and Chila slow; their tempo is very difficult to get used to, so it feels awkward playing them. We faced them 3 times before, with a 2-1 record. In our closed training, our team paired up two left-handers to help us prepare for them.
My first singles opponent was Johnny Huang, and I won rather easily.
Next I will face Blaszcik. Remarkably, in the 45th Worlds, I faced Huang
first and then Blaszcik. Blaszcik's has good offense and weak defense.
I have to control the placement of my serve returns, and not give him no
many chances to attack.
Even though the 32-year-old failed to advance, she showed her high spirits and great execution. It was a loss that she should not be ashamed of. In today's match, almost all of Singapore's Olympic contingent was present to cheer Jing, to give her the greatest support, Afterwards she received huge applause from her countrymen; it was a touching moment.
In the 4th game, Jing was in front 19-16, and had a chance for a 5th game. But Li played steadily, winning point after point, and took the game and match 21-19.
The 31st-ranked Jing said that she was a little disappointed about the loss. But the opponent is much higher ranked, with higher skill levels, so losing to her is a normal result.
"I know that many people are here to support me. Many more are quietly supporting me back in Singapore. I really hoped to win this match for Singapore. Now that I lost, I feel very sorry", she said. She will now not worry about medals, but just focus on playing Chen Jing.
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here for the original article and a great photo of Li and Jing.