Wang Hao on Sunday won a gold in the men's singles, completing
China's haul of six of the seven titles at the Asian table tennis
championships.
The only lost gold medal went to the South Korean duo of Oh Sang
Eun and former Chinese Kwak Bang Bang, which denied China of the
Asian mixed doubles title for the first time since 1992.
World No. 2 Wang, the Olympic men's singles silver medalist at
Athens, brushed aside his younger teammate Ma Long 11-9, 13-11,
11-9, 11-7 in the final.
The battle between the two Chinese proved a lopsided affair but
the 19-year-old Ma's spirited attacks kept forcing Wang to use his
nimble footwork to stay in control.
"I achieved my goal to win the men's singles despite the
shoulder injury which had made it difficult to raise my right arm,"
said Wang, adding that "It was not an easy win."
Ko Lai Chak of Hong Kong, China and Oh Sang Eun of South Korea
finished joint third.
Earlier in the afternoon, Chinese players swept all the medals
in the women's singles, with top-ranked Zhang Yining capturing the
title after overpowering Li Xiaoxia 11-8, 11-7, 11-7, 5-11,
11-3.
Li said the lack of confidence led to a setback in her
performance but she had improved her mental attitude towards wins
and losses and managed to win the fourth set despite three sets
down.
World No. 4 Guo Yan shared the bronze medals with the grand-slam
winner Wang Nan.
On the previous day, China's Guo Yue had teamed up with Li to
win the women's doubles title by defeating Zhang and Wang, the
women's doubles gold medalists at Athens.
In the men's doubles, Ma and 10th-ranked Hao Shuai finished
first after rallying from two sets down to eliminate Wang and
eighth-ranked Chen Qi.
Chinese players also won titles in the men's team and women's
team events.
(Xinhua News Agency September 24, 2007)