China came from behind twice to edge hosts South Korea in a full-set thriller to advance to the men's final at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals.
BUSAN, South Korea, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- China withstood huge pressure from hosts South Korea to triumph in a full-set thriller here on Saturday, moving one win away from achieving its 11th straight men's title at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals.
In the semifinal clash which lasted over three hours, world No. 1 Fan Zhendong picked up two wins and saved China from the brink of defeat, while Wang Chuqin made amends for his opening loss with a straight-game victory in the decisive matchup.
Amid the loud cheers from the crowd at the full-packed Busan Exhibition and Convention Center, Wang stepped up to the table first, facing off against Jang Woo-jin, the highest-ranked player in South Korea's squad.
Fueled by the home crowd's support, the 14th-ranked Jang raced ahead by one game at 11-7, but Wang pocketed eight points in a row on his way to an 11-2 victory in the second game to restore parity.
As both players focused on their first three strokes, quite a few rallies were seen for the most part of the match. Down 1-4 in the third game, Wang went neck and neck with his rival for an 11-all tie, before the home paddler scored two straight points to prevail.
Facing a 1-4 deficit in the fourth game, Wang called a timeout, while Jang's two catch-net points thwarted the comeback effort from the world No. 2, who fell 11-6 as it marked the first dropped set for the reigning champions in the Busan event.
"His play went beyond my expectations," admitted Wang. "He had a tight grip of the match, and I was a little impatient when I had some chances."
Fan was next to hit the court, with the 18th-ranked Lim Jong-hoon across the table. Fan went ahead 7-4 in the opening game, but Lim put it on level terms at 7-all, before Fan kept his cool to win the game 11-8.
China's top-ranked paddler had a perfect winning record in his previous four encounters with Lim, and he gained the upper hand throughout their duel, prevailing 11-6, 11-8 in the next two games to put his side level on the scoreboard.
The two sides turned to their veterans in the third set. 33-year-old home paddler Lee Sang-su took the initiative with an 11-7 victory in the first game. However, 35-year-old Olympic champion Ma Long, who had a 7-1 win-loss record in their head-to-heads, soon evened the match at 11-4.
In a pivotal third game, after the two players tied at 10-all, Lee snatched two late points to move ahead again.
Despite emerging victorious 11-6 in the fourth game to level the score again, Ma fell 11-4 in the deciding game as South Korea gained a 2-1 advantage.
"Lee was more resolute than me in the deciding game. As I didn't grasp the opportunity when I led in the third game, I began to lose my momentum from there," said Ma.
Stepping on the court again, Fan and Jang put on their duel between the two sides' No. 1 paddlers. With the defending champions' hope of forcing the decisive matchup resting on his shoulders, Fan lived up to his task, prevailing 11-6, 11-7, 12-10 with both teams returning to level terms.
"Apart from the pressure imposed by my opponents in terms of techniques and tactics, I could feel the pressure from the atmosphere. I had anticipated it during my preparations, but while facing it on the court, it was a huge test for me," commented Fan.
Wang closed out China's nail-biting victory with an 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 win against Lim.
"I learnt some lessons from this match, and I will embrace the final with a better mindset," commented Wang.
The final hurdle for China's title defense on Sunday will be either France or Chinese Taipei, who will cross swords later on Saturday.
"After everyone has experienced such a scenario today, I hope that we can prepare better for tomorrow's final," Ma remarked.
Fan anticipated the final to be more fierce. "We will summarize what we've got from this match and go all out tomorrow," he noted.
Despite their bitter loss in front of home fans, South Korean paddlers felt upbeat about the future.
"In the past, the South Korean team lost the games easily to China, and because of that, our fans had a kind of sentiment that we didn't do very well against China. However, I believe our game today will change that sentiment," said Jang. ■
