Ma Masterful at 2004 World Cup
USA's Gao Jun Whips Wang
Hangzhou, CHINA - China's Ma Lin and Zhang Yining each won their third World Cup Singles title. In the men's final, Ma defeated Greece's Kalinikos Kreanga, -5,12,-3,12,9,10.
"I was stunned by Kreanga's performance at the beginning of the match; fortunately I was able to change my tactics against him and managed to beat him," Ma said. It was Ma's second straight World Cup victory, having won in 2000 and 2003. Ma reached the final with ease, defeating Germany's Timo Boll in the quarterfinals, 4,1,-9,8,0, and teammate Wang Hao in the semifinals, 1,8,3,4, an average of 4.4 points per game for those matches.
In the women's all-China final between the world's top two ranked women, Zhang Yining (world #1) defeated Wang Nan, 13,-7,5,6,-8,8. Zhang had also won in 2001 and 2002. Chinese players have won all eight Women's World Cups.
"I was a little nervous against Wang at first but later I focused more on my game, not hers," said 23- year-old Zhang. "It is the best match I've played since the Athens Olympic Games. None of us have practiced a great deal since Athens." Zhang recently won gold medals at the Olympics in Women's Singles and Doubles, winning the doubles with Wang. Zhang completely dominated her opponents up until the final. In those five matches, she lost only one game, winning those five matches (in order) by scores of
3,10,2,6,2,4,6,-5,4,5,4,3,7,2,2,8,7,6,4,3,4, an average of 4.9 points per game. In the quarters and semifinals (the last eight scores here), opponents Kim Kyung Ah of Korea and Li Jia Wei of Singapore averaged 4.5 points per game.
Wang Nan took the difficult route to the final, losing to USAs Gao Jun in the preliminaries, 9,-9,-8,13,-8,14,9. Amazingly, Wang had five match points in game six, leading 10-6. It was the second year in a row that Gao had upset Wang in the preliminaries.
"I was laughing during the match, I just felt so unlucky having to play against Wang Nan; anyone who faces her would have the same feeling," said Gao, a former Chinese National Team member who has lived in the United States for ten years. "I guess the reason I beat her again is that she was under more pressure than me being on home soil."
However, Gao lost to Hong Kong's Tie Yana, 11,-8,11,8,-8,6, and so Gao, Wang and Tie all were tied at 2-1. (All three defeated Wue Xu of Dominican Republic.) Among the three of them, Wang was 7-6; Tie 6-6; and Gao 6-7; and so Wang advanced in first, Tie in second, and Gao was out.
MEN
Men's Singles - Final: Ma Lin (CHN) d. Kalinikos Kreanga (GRE), -5,12,-3,12,9,10; 3rd: Wang Hao (CHN) d. Joo Se Hyuk (KOR), 7,-10,6,9,-10,-5,8; SF: Ma d. Wang Hao, 1,8,3,4; Kreanga d. Joo Se Hyuk (KOR), 9,-3,7,9,-13,8; QF: Ma d. Timo Boll (GER), 4,1,-9,8,0; Wang Hao d. Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE), 6,9,9,4; Kreanga d. Werner Schlager (AUT), 10,9,-6,9,6; Joo d. Chiang Peng-Lung (TPE), 12,4,4,12.
Preliminaries
Group One: 1st Chiang Peng-Lung (TPE), 2-1 (d. Wang, 8,-4,9,-9,9,8; d. Toriola, def.); 2nd Timo Boll (GER), 2-1 (d. Chiang, 10,-4,2,-4,4,-7,8; d. Toriola, def.); 3rd Wang Liqin (CHN), 2-1 (d. Timo Boll, 5,-9,-9,-7,2,7,6; d. Toriola, def.); 4th Segun Toriola (NGR), 0-3.
Group Two: 1st Ma Lin (CHN), 3-0 (d. Joo, 2,8,8,7; d. Chuan, 7,-6,5,12,8; d. Russell, 9,1,4,7); 2nd Joo Se Hyuk (KOR), 2-1 (d. Russell, 8,-9,5,-8,8,7; d. Chuan, -5,-7,-7,6,2,4,8); 3rd Chuan Chih-Yuan (TPE), 1-2 (d. Russell, 2,7,7,6); 4th Lavale Russell (AUS), 0-3.
Group Three: 1st Wang Hao (CHN), 3-0 (d. Kreanga, -9,12,6,8,-10,8; d. Samsonov, -9,8,-5,14,6,-9,10; d. Huang, 3,1,7,11); 2nd Kalinikos Kreanga (GRE), 2-1 (d. Huang, 9,5,-5,8,5; d. Samsonov,
7,-7,9,5,9); 3rd Vladimir Samsonov (BLR), 1-2 (d. Huang, 6,7,8,-3,5); 4th Johnny Huang (CAN), 0-3.
Group Four: 1st Werner Schlager (AUT), 3-0 (d. Monteiro, 4,5,8,8; d. Ryu, 10,-9,5,6,-7,5; d. Waldner, 7,-9,8,8,5); 2nd Jan-Ove Waldner, 1-2 (d. Monteiro, -8,8,5,8,-7,11) 3rd Ryu Seung Min (KOR), 1-2 (d. Waldner, 7,9,-10,9,-11,-8,9); 4th Thiago Monteiro (BRA), 1-2 (d. Ryu, -5,-10,8,6,-8,8,8).
WOMEN
Women's Singles - Final: Zhang Yining (CHN) d. Wang Nan (CHN), 13,-7,5,6,-8,8; 3rd: Tie Yana (HKG) d. Li Jia Wei (SIN), 6,9,-7,8,12; SF: Zhang d. Tie Yana, 6,4,3,4; Wang d. Li Jia Wei, -10,9,-4,4,5,3; QF: Zhang d. Kim Kyung Ah (KOR), 2,2,8,7; Tie d. Lau Sui Fei (HKG), -9,-6,9,9,9,8; Li d. Viktoria Pavlovich (BLR), -5,11,8,-6,11,6; Wang
d. Tamara Boros (HRV), -10,-5,5,7,7,8.
Preliminaries
Group One: 1st Zhang Yining, 3-0 (d. Steff, 3,10,2,6; d. Li, 2,4,6,-5,4; d. Miao, 5,4,3,7); 2nd Li Jia Wei (SIN), 2-1 (d. Miao, 4,2,4,8; d. Steff, 5,-7,8,-11,-8,5,9); 3rd Mihaela Steff (ROU), 1-2 (d. Miao, -7,9,7,-10,5,3); 4th Miao Miao (AUS), 0-3.
Group Two: 1st Wang Nan (CHN), 2-1 (d. Tie, 6,11,8,-10,-11,9; d. Wu, 7,-9,9,9,-7,10); 2nd Tie Yana (HKG), 2-1 (d. Xu, 8,3,8,6; d. Gao, 11,-8,11,8,-8,6); 3rd Gao Jun (USA), 2-1 (d. Xu, 5,6,8,-7,7; d. Wang, 9,-9,-8,13,-8,14,9); 4th Wu Xue (DOM), 0-3.
Group Three: 1st Lau Sui Fei (HKG), 2-1 (d. Niu, -3,8,-6,9,-6,4,5; d. Boros, 9,-12,9,-3,-11,8,7); 2nd Tamara Boros (HRV), 2-1 (d. Badescu, 5,-6,9,9,5; d. Niu, 9,10,4,8); 3rd Niu
Jiangfeng (CHN), 1-2 (d. Boros, -6,6,3,5,11); 4th Otilia Badescu (ROU), 1-2 (d. Lau, -1,10-8,15,-9,7,8).
Group Four: 1st Viktoria Pavlovich (BLR), 2-1 (d. Kim, 11,7,-8,9,9; d. Oshonaike, 5,8,4,5); 2nd Kim Kyung Ah (KOR), 2-1 (d. Liu, 11,4,8,6; d. Oshonaike, 8,6,2,5); 3rd Liu Jia (AUT), 2-1 (d. Oshonaike, 9,12,9,6; d. Pavlovich, -9,9,-9,7,9,-9,6); 4th Funke Oshonaike (NGR), 0-3.
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