by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
In the ExCeL Exhibition Centre, the format being four singles and one doubles, should the contest extend the full distance, China had recorded a three-one win.
Man of the moment was Cao Ningning; he beat both Jun Eunhang (11-7, 11-3, 11-4) and Kim Younggun (11-7, 11-6, 11-4). The one further win for China was secured by Zhang Yan; he brought matters to a conclusion by defeating Jung Eunhang (7-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9).
The one Korean win had been gained by Kim Younggun; in the second match of the fixture, he had defeated Zhang Yan (11-6, 11-6, 11-8).
Again beat Zhao Yan
Once again, this time in Rio de Janeiro, he beat Zhao Yan, only this time it was not a consolation win; it was the win that secured Korea a place in the final. Just as in London, he beat Zhao Yan in three straight games (11-4, 13-11, 11-2).
“Playing Zhao Yan I served with as much backspin as possible and then pushed the ball again with backspin hard towards his backhand”, explained Kim Younggun a right handed shake-hands grip player as opposed to Zhao Yan who is likewise right handed but a pen-holder.
“Before the match I was a little nervous”, admitted Kim Younggun. “Now we are all very happy, we are very excited having beaten China; I think one of the main reasons we won is that we have a really god team spirit.”
Earlier success
Success for Kim Younggun came after Cao Ningning and Guo Xingyuan had combined to win the doubles against Kim Junggil and Kim Younggun (8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 13-11) and Kim Younggun had levelled matters by overcoming Cao Ningning (13-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-6).
Chinese Taipei books place
A semi-final win for Korea; on the adjacent table it was success for Chinese Taipei; they beat Turkey by two matches to nil.
Cheng Ming-Chih and Lin Yen-Hung combined to give Chinese Taipei the perfect start by beating Abdullah Ozturk and Nesim Turan (11-7, 11-8, 11-13, 12-10), prior to Cheng Ming-Chih returning to the table to overcome Ali Ozturk (9-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 11-3).
Medal fixtures
The final and the bronze medal match will be played at 10.00am on Friday 16th September.