Taiwan’s Chuang Chih-yuan failed to become the first Taiwan-born table tennis player to win an Olympic medal after losing 4-2 to Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany in the bronze medal match on Thursday.
Chuang, seeded fifth, was beaten by the eighth-seeded German 12-10, 9-11, 8-11, 13-11, 11-5, 14-12 in a 49-minute match in London.
The 31-year-old Taiwanese player won the first five points in the opener, but his German opponent rallied and ended up taking the first game. Despite the early setback, Chuang fought his way back and won the following two games.
Photo: Reuters
Chuang had a chance to go 3-1 up as he led in most of the fourth game, but he lost his edge and Ovtcharov won the game following a deuce contest.
The German’s momentum continued and he took the fifth game 11-5.
Under the pressure of being 3-2 down, Chuang missed three game points and the chance to prolong his quest for third place, allowing the German to take home the bronze after three deuces.
“It’s a pity that I failed to earn a medal [for the country] and it made no difference for me being among either the top four or top eight,” Chuang said after the match.
Chuang lost to China’s Wang Hao 11-13, 11-2, 12-10, 11-6, 11-9 in the semi-finals earlier on Thursday.
The Taiwanese player reached the quarter-finals of the men’s singles at the Athens Games in 2004, before falling to Wang 4-2.
Chuang’s performance in London marked the best run by a Taiwanese male table tennis player at the Games.
Both of Chuang’s parents are table tennis players. His mother and coach, Lee Kuei-mei, is a former national team player and his father, Chuang Han-chieh, was a national doubles champion.
Following Chuang’s match, China made it two gold medals in two days — and two silver medals to boot.
In other sports — and in other nations — that would call for chest-bumping, high-fiving, boasting and raucous celebrations. At least a few smiles.
There was almost none of that from Zhang Jike, who defeated teammate Wang Hao in the men’s singles final.
Zhang’s lone hint of happiness, celebrating his first Olympic gold medal, lasted about as long as a good rally.
After the winning point to take the match 4-1, Zhang leaped over a barrier surrounding the playing area — looking like Chinese Olympic hurdler Liu Xiang — raced to the medal podium and kneeled down and kissed the top platform designated for the gold medalist.
“It was spontaneous,” he said. “If you plan everything, you can’t do it well.”
That was the beginning — and the end — of any public show of joy or surprise.
Minutes later on the medal podium, his eyes glazed over and he seemed far away. Taking questions from Chinese and international reporters, he often looked distracted, burying his chin in his shoulder as he looked down.
“We just finished a very exciting competition and so my whole body is still not there,” Zhang said. “I may appear a little down, but that’s normal.”
Chinese players, of course, are expected to win.
The sport is a national pastime for 1.3 billion people and the country has won 22 of 26 gold medals since the sport entered the 1988 Olympics — and beating a friend and teammate calls for restraint and respect.
It was similar on Wednesday in the women’s final when Li Xiaoxia defeated teammate Ding Ning.
It was Wang’s third Olympic final — and third silver medal. He also lost to Zhang a year ago in the finals of the world championships.
He said he is now focused on the upcoming team competition and a little pep talk that men’s coach Liu Guoliang gave them both before the big match.
“He was talking to both of us and encouraging us to play well,” Wang said. “Lose or win, we must be positive for the team competition ... To be honest, I feel more disappointment for my fans than myself. I will still do my best. I hope my fans can be strong along with me.”
The happiest guy was bronze medalist Octcharov.
“To win a single Olympic medal is the biggest thing for any sportsman, particularly a table tennis player,” he said.
Asked how to beat the Chinese, Octcharov replied: “It would be very great if there were a special recipe how to beat the Chinese. They are very well prepared, particularly in the big tournaments ... It makes it very difficult to beat them.”
The governing body of table tennis has tried tinkering with rules to give others a chance. This time only two singles players were allowed from each nation — down from three in Beijing. That guarantees at least one nation other than China wins a medal in the singles. That also put crushing pressure on the Chinese to deliver.
In the world championships, China enters seven or eight players in the singles. There was no cushion with only two at the Olympics.
Coach Liu Guoliang, a double gold medalist in 1996, would like to see a bit more competition.
“I’d be happy to see the overall standard improve, but of course I want Chinese players to stay on top,” Liu said.
That seems inevitable.
China’s sports schools keep producing great athletes. They are identified early and honed through thousands of hours of practice by the time they are teenagers, and most careers are planned by sports officials.
Liu, who was on the bench to coach Zhang and Wang in the other matches, watched from the stands in the sold-out 6,000-seat venue.
“One is like an elder son and the other is like a younger son,” Liu Guoliang said.
Taiwanese athletes in action
FRIDAY, AUG. 3
Archery
Men’s individual
Rick van der Ven of the Netherlands defeated and eliminated Kuo Cheng-wei 6-0 in the quarter-finals.
Rowing
Men’s single sculls
Wang Ming-hui was second in final E to finish 26th of 33.
Sailing
Men’s RS-X
Chang Hao finished 33rd of 38 in race 5 and 33rd of 38 in race 6.
Table Tennis
Men’s singles bronze medal match
Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany defeated Chuang Chih-yuan 4-2.
Athletics
Men’s 400m hurdles heats
Chen Chieh finished 6th of 8 in Heat 1 after running 50.27 seconds and was eliminated.
Men’s shot put heats
Chang Ming-huang qualified for the final after finishing 12th of 40 after throwing 20.25m.
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