The formidable Chinese men's table tennis Olympic trio - Wang Hao, Ma Lin and Wang Liqin - only edged their teammates 3-2 in a warm-up in Beijing on Monday.
Triple world champion Wang Liqin breezed past Wang Jianjun to lift the Olympians to 1-0 lead. Four-time World Cup champion Ma Lin struggled to overcome Chen Qi, ranking 7th in the world, 3-2 to extend the lead to 2-0.
But the winning tide of the Olympic squad was reversed when Wang Hao/Ma Lin lost to younger pair Chen Qi/Ma Long 3-1.
The 30-year-old Wang Liqin was then beaten by third-ranked teenage prodigy Ma Long in a five-set marathon battle.
In the tiebreaker, Wang Hao defended the fame of the Olympic squad by beating Wang Jianjun.
Ealier in the afternoon, the Olympic trio eased past their challengers 3-0 in the first round of the elimination team event in less than two hours.
The warm-up acted as a final test for the Chinese team in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games. The challengers who overpowered the Olympic squad would be allowed to attend the table tennis worlds next year.
"The match encourages young players to challenge the veterans in a bid to improve themselves," said Liu Fengyan, director of the Chinese Table Tennis and Badminton Administrative Center.
The trio of Wang Hao, Ma Lin and Wang Linqin as well as substitute Chen Qi will show up for the men's events in the Beijing Games, at which the mens's and women's doubles have been replaced by men's and women's team events.
(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2008)