IMPRESSIONS gathered by Marc Laporte for the ITTF WEB:

Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus defeats World #1 Kong Linhui of China

Samsonov takes the two first games, taking advantage on his high toss serves. Kong fights back to take the 3rd with lightning attacks. Through incredible rallies and blocks, Samsonov comes back in the fourth to defeat defending World Champion.

Vladimir Samsonov will meet Jan-Ove Waldner in the Finals.

JAN-OVE WALDNER advances to the Finals.

Yan Sen (China) took an early lead against Jan-Ove Waldner in the first game of the Semi-Finals with great serves and his reversed penholder backhand. However, Waldner struck back to win the first 21-17 and then 21-14, 21-12 in a one-way match. Waldner imposed his serves and demonstrated his great experience against the young lefty.
Yan Sen (World #47) caused surprise upsets against Kim Taek Soo (#5), Johnny Huang (#11) and He Zhi Wen (#71) to advance to the Semi-Finals.

WALDNER - GATIEN 3/0 - QUARTER FINALS

A capacity crowd cheered as Jean-Philippe Gatien (France) and Jan-Ove Waldner (Sweden) entered the arena. Waldner, '91 World Champion beat Gatien the '93 World Champion in the 1997 Quarter-Finals. Ice cool, Waldner controlled the match against a nervous Gatien: 21- 7, 22-20, 21-14. Waldner, currently #2 in the World advances to the Semi-Finals to meet Yan Sen of China, #47 in the World.

Words with KONG LINGHUI and COACH YIN YIAO (May 4, 1997):
Transcribed by Xiu Bao for the ITTF WEB.

ITTF WEB:
You did well in the men's team for China. Could you tell me something about your 1-3 loss to Vladimir Samsonov in the semifinals?

KONG LINGHUI:
After about 21 games in the past two days, this wasn't my best performance.

ITTF WEB:
Why didn't Liu Guoliang get through to the final?

COACH YIN YIAO:
Physically, he may have been overworked. Secondly, he failed to identify the winning opportunity that arose during the match. And finally, he didn't take full advantage of his own service.