Wang Hao in men's singles final
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-08-22 20:13

Chinese young player Wang Hao beat his teammate, world singles No.1 Wang Liqin 4-1 Sunday to enter the men's singles final of the table tennis tournament of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

The scores for the match were 11-8, 11-5, 6-11,11-9 and 11-3.

"I think I'm gradually approaching my best form," said Wang Hao after his not-so-difficult win.

Wang, ranked fourth in world singles players, won the first two games rather easily. After conceding the third game, Wang was 5-1 and 7-3 ahead in the fourth, but only to let his opponent catch up to 7-6.

The 21-year-old Wang then called a time-out to calm himself down, and finally took the game 11-9. Wang Liqin, who seemed to have been completely overwhelmed mentally, lost the last game quickly 3-11.

"As teammates, we are quite familiar with each other. But Wang Hao played much better today and was faster, bolder and mentally stronger than me,"said the 26-year-old Wang Liqin after the match.

Wang, singles title winner at the 46th world championships and also doubles champion at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, had hoped to become another "grand slam" winner of all singles titles at the world championships, World Cup and Olympic Games. But the Sunday defeat forced him to wait for another four years till the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to fulfill his dream.

"Wang (Liqin) wasn't playing very well today, maybe he was under great pressure and couldn't play in a relaxed manner," said Wang Hao.

He said actually he had suffered many defeats to Wang Liqin in the past year. "I just beat him once in a warm-up tournament in China recently," he said.

"The whole world can see that Wang Liqin wasn't playing in a good form today," commented Cai Zhenhua, head coach of the Chinese table tennis team, who watched the match from the spectators' stand.

No Chinese team coaches were seen on the court to give instructions to any player as this was an all-Chinese semi-final.

Wang Hao, who is participating in the Olympic tournament for the first time, will meet the winner between Jan-Ove Waldner of Sweden and Ryu Seung Min of South Korea in the final scheduled for Monday.

The match was still underway by press time, with a 1-1 draw in the first two games.

"I only met Waldner once in the Korea Open and he quit for a waist injury when I was leading 2-0. I also played Ryu several times and took most wins," said Wang when asked about his prospective opponent in the final.

"But both of them are great players and very tough opponents. Past results mean nothing as this is the Olympic Games and they have fought their way into the last four," said Wang. "I must make full preparations for a hard battle."