The Swaythling Cup, the dream of the Chinese Men's
Team, was in front of us, and, surprisingly, China's last
opponent was Belgium. (From Chinese Sports News, photos courtesy of www.cn-tt.com and www.sina.com.cn)
The Swaythling Cup, the dream of the Chinese Men's
Team, was in front of us, and, surprisingly, China's last
opponent was Belgium.
The early exit of the Swedish team gave China no chance to taste revenge. Kong said, with regret, "We may not have too many chances to play Sweden in the future".
Without Sweden, there was less drama.
China was the star of tonight's contest, and the Osaka Sports Centre was its banquet hall. Thirty minutes before the final match, all the reporters received the line-ups. There was no surprise from Belgium: J-M Saive played the top position, with P. Saive in the second and Bratanov in the third. Surprisingly, China presented this line-up: Liu Guozheng in the first position, Ma Lin in second, and Kong in the third. The Chinese coaches discussed long and hard to come up with this list. They did not relax because they are facing Belgium instead of Sweden. Belgium eliminated Sweden, so it must have improved significantly. The coaches explained: "If Belgium were a wolf before, it is now a tiger". They definitely were playing Liu Guozheng and Ma; the two have played so well in the semifinals. Who was to be the third player? Kong had just lost two points. How did Kong himself think? So the coaches asked him.
Kong was not sure whether the coaches would use him in the
finals. In the press conference after the semifinals, Kong
himself said that any one of the five players might play in the
finals, the key was how the coaches planned the match-ups. He did
not expect the coaches to come ask him. "I have
confidence", he said with determination.
Kong might not play very well against Asian players, but European players were different and he was confident. The coaches felt that there was no problem with him, plus he was so experienced. Korea's Kim was an example: he lost 2 points against France, yet the next day he was magnificent against China. If Kim could do it, so could Kong. To lessen the pressure, they put Kong in the third spot.
The first match of the final was very critical. Coach Cai slapped Ma on his back, and Ma stepped onto the court. In the first game, Ma did not return serves well. He was playing passively, and lost the game 18-21. In the second, he quickly took advantages of his serves to take the lead, His short balls totally controlled J-M Saive, and he obviously had the upper hand. He got a 13-4 lead, and quickly ran the game out 21-7. In the third, Ma continued to stay ahead of Saive and won 21-15 to win the first match.
In the second match Liu Guozheng faced P. Saive. The 10 sq. cm. on the right of P. Saive half of the table, close to the net, was the "death trap" for P. Saive. Liu kept placing the ball there, and won the two games. Now the baton was passed to Kong.
Kong did not disappoint. Having lost 2 points the previous day, he defeated Bratanov, and took the final step to the Swaythling Cup.
The team was very calm afterwards; their emotions had been spent in the semifinals.
Many people say that the China-Korea is a classic. It would be
a huge mistake if this chapter were left out in the textbooks of
table-tennis. Li Furong, who has been involved in the game for
over 40 years, said that it was the first time he had ever seen
such a great match that showcased all the wonders of our sport.
Words could not describe the excitement and the pressure of the
match. Cai used four superlatives: "In my 11 years of
coaching, this is the most spectacular, the closest, the most
exciting and the most pressure-filled contest".
In the first 4 matches, China's number-one Kong had lost twice, and the match score was 2-2. The Chinese thought that they would win 3-0 or 3-1, and had not expected to play the fifth match. Their line-up was designed to finish the tie in 4 matches. No one had expected Kong to lose twice.
To use Cai's words, China was at a disadvantage in the fifth match. Whether it was serving, receiving or rallying, Liu held no advantage over Kim. Cai now felt that they were going to lose.
Liu lost the first game, and fell behind in the second 3-8. The big screen showed a close-up of Liu: his round face was flushed, and his eyes were red. Liu said, "My mind was blank at that time, and yet I was thinking, if I were to lose this match, I would never sign up to play team again. Fate did not want me to play team".
But Liu did not believe in fate, and he fought against it. From 3-8, he crawled back, and the game was tied at 20-all. He then fell behind once, twice, and three times. The stubborn Liu fought back every time. Kim was well known for his fighting spirits, but he faced someone even tougher. His confidence started to falter a little. Liu won the second game.
The third was almost a replay of the second. When Liu scored his 25th point, Liu Guoliang, Kong and Ma Lin ran out to tackle him. Cai held him in a tight embrace, and Cai's eyes were moist.
"Liu Guozheng was so wonderful", Cai said, and his emotions would not calm down for a long time.
Cai said that the team could not accept the last loss in Kuala Lumpur and yet they had to face reality. They had analyzed the reasons for that defeat, and had worked very hard. They won in the Olympics, and that gave them the confidence to capture the Swaythling Cup.
"In the last year, our players had experienced the toughest training. Whether is was the regular practice sessions or the closed training sessions, we were treating the players very tough. When it was windy or raining, or when it was sand storming in Beijing, we would increase the training volume. They have all persevered. I thank them", Cai said.
After the Olympics, Kong had many problems. He
pulled his shoulder in Europe, and the equipment was problematic.
He strained his neck again in closed training. As an older
player, he understood his responsibility. He was trying hard to
make up for lost time at Zhengding.
Among the 5 team players, Liu was the most experienced. Since the 42nd Worlds, he had been on the men's team. After Ma Wenge and Wang Tao left the team, he and Kong had taken up the leadership positions, He was used to the pressure, and despite his injuries, he participated in all the training.
After the closed training, the coaches were worried that Liu Guozheng might fall into his "lazy" mode. But since he played in the last Worlds, Liu felt that pressure, and was training very hard. The coaches were satisfied with his progress, and trusted that he would perform well.
Ma Lin had opened the big-ball era with a victory by winning the World Cup. Then Ma said that he wanted to win all the world titles, but all he wanted before the final was the Swaythling Cup. "I will do my best in teams. To be able to play in the finals is my wish", Ma said.
Wang Liqin is the favorite of many to win the men's singles, and yet he said "Team is my number one" when he was asked about his wishes.
After the team events were over, Li Furong praised the
coaching staff. He said that they have worked very hard together,
and that was why they won the team titles. Li told us something
we did not know. Every night, the coaches met for two to three
hours. After the match against Germany, they were discussing who
to play the Korean match. Some felt that Wang was strong, and
others thought that Liu Guozheng had great toughness. After much
debating, they settled on Liu Guozheng. And Liu became the
number-one hero in the match. It was the same way when they
prepared for Belgium. They were looking at all the scenarios, and
coming up with plans. The coaches also net with the players
individually to help them prepare mentally. The players felt
confident, and the coaches had a lot to do with that. The
coaching team is an effective machine.