Taiwan on Wednesday lost in the final of the men’s team event at the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Pyeongchang, South Korea, going down 3-0 to China.
Chuang Chih-yuan, Lin Yun-ju, Kao Cheng-jui and Huang Yan-cheng were trying to earn automatic qualification for the Paris Olympics.
In the first match, Kao faced world No. 2 Wang Chuqin and led 2-1 after three games, but lost the next two games in a 9-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8 defeat.
Photo: World Table Tennis website
Lin battled world No. 1 Fan Zhendong in another grueling five-game match.
Lin had a chance to close out the match after establishing a 10-8 lead in the fifth game, but lost 8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 5-11, 12-10 after Fan increased the tempo.
In the third match, world No. 26 Chuang lost to world No. 6 Liang Jingkun 11-8, 11-4, 12-10.
Photo: World Table Tennis website
He came close to forcing a fourth game when leading 10-8 in the third.
Taiwan also took silver in the 2021 championships after losing to South Korea 1-3.
In early matches yesterday at the Pyeongchang Dome, Yang Tzu-yi and Huang won their men’s singles encounters in the round of 128.
Yang beat Uzbekistan’s Kutbidillo Teshaboev 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 and Huang eliminated Pakistan’s Taimur Khan 11-5, 11-3, 11-5.
In the round-of-64 of the women’s singles, Huang Yi-hua beat Singapore’s Zhou Jingyi 13-15, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-7, while Li Yu-jhun defeated Thailand’s Wanwisa Aueawiriyayothin 11-7, 11-6, 11-8.
In the round-of-32 of the women’s doubles, Huang Yu-wen and Li beat South Korea’s Lee Eun-hye and Yang Ha-eun 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-10, while Chen Szu-yu and Huang Yi-hua defeated Singapore pair Zhang Wanling and Goi Rui Xuan 11-5, 11-8, 8-11, 11-1.
In the round-of-16, Chen and Huang Yi-hua advanced, beating Kazakhstan’s Zauresh Akasheva and Anastassiya Lavrova 11-3, 11-4, 11-3, but Huang Yu-wen and Li were eliminated, losing 9-11, 11-1, 11-9, 11-8 to Japan’s Miyuu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki.
The event finishes on Sunday.
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