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CHINESE COACH CAI ZENHUA Chinese coach Cai Zenhua said in an interview that "the line-up was good for us, the Swedes thought we were going to play Ding Song; thus, their big mistake was that Waldner should have played in position 1 and Persson, who has been playing very well, should not have played in position 3." Cai Zenhua further said that in the individual events it will be very difficult for the Chinese players, because the European and the Asian players are very strong. "Waldner, Samsonov, Saive, Gatien and Rosskopf can all win matches against us. About the Chinese system, Cai Zenhua said that its success is due to the fact that former players, who understand the sport, are at the helm of the association.
HESTER England, (April 27) XINHUA - China blanked Hong Kong 3-0 to move into the women's team semi-finals at the World Table Tennis Championships here on Sunday. World No. 1 Deng Yaping beat Wong Ching in straight sets and Li Ju put China 2-0 ahead by beating Cha Po Wa in the second rubber. Yang Ying, ranked fourth in the world, completed the winning tally with a 2-1 victory over Song Ah Sim. China is the defending champion in the last world championships with Hong Kong in the third place. Enditem 27/04/97 17:06 GMT Copyright 1997
MANCHESTER England, (April 27) XINHUA - A scenario that the Chinese men's team hopes to avoid is set to happen as Sweden was drawn against China in the quarter-finals at the World Table Tennis Championships here on Sunday.
World runner-up Sweden, drawn into the first quarter topped by China, is set to crush the winner between a crossover game between England and Egypt before the quarter-final match against the defending champion team. South Korea was also drawn into the first half and it means China has to beat two strong rivals before reaching the final. "That is the worst situation that could happen to China," said Chinese team leader Li Furong. "We hoped that China wouldn't meet Sweden and South Korea too early, but the draw is beyond our expectation." South Korea finished third in the last world championships. Enditem 27/04/97 16:27 GMT Copyright 1997
MANCHESTER England, (April 27) XINHUA - The tenacious Japanese outlasted their Czech opponents in five games to top Group D, moving into the men's team quarter-finals at the World Table Tennis Championships here on Sunday. In the other Group D match, France downed England 3-1 to finish second, keeping alive its hope to make the last eight. China, Belgium and Germany have earlier booked quarter-final spots after winning their groups. Belgium, which upset Sweden 3-2 on Saturday to secure its leading position in the group, benched its top players Jean-Michael Saive and his younger brother Philippe during the game against Austria, and lost 0-3. Sweden rested out-of-form Jan-Ove Waldner in its last group game against Romania. Peter Karlsson, Thomas von Scheele and Kayode Kadiri edged out their rivals 3-2. World No. 2 Waldner, the only male who has won a Grand Slam of the Olympic, world championship and World Cup singles titles, didn't reach his dizzying height and lost two games on Saturday. Sweden, which finished second in the group, is now one knock-out match away from the quarter-finals. Enditem 27/04/97 16:21 GMT Copyright 1997
ANCHESTER England, (April 27) XINHUA - Defending champion China has kept a clean book to top Group A after a 3-0 blanking of Croatia on Sunday, nailing its place in the men's team quarter-finals of the World Table Tennis Championships. Ding Song, ranked seventh in the world, put China on the winning track with an easy 21-13, 21-11 victory over Ivan Juzbasic. Reigning world singles champion Kong Linghui took the second game against Dragutin Surbek, winning 21-18, 21-9, and Wang Tao beat Roko Tosic 21-16, 21-5 in the final contest. Croaita, which shunned its top player Zoran Primorac from Chinese, placed third in the group. Yugoslavia finished second. Second and third place finishers in the elite Group A to D will fight for the remaining four quarter-final spots on Monday. China is expected to take on Sweden before the final since the world runner-up team, set to finish second in Group B after Saturday's loss to Belgium, will fight for a berth in China's half of the quarter-finals. Enditem 27/04/97 11:17 GMT Copyright 1997
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