Русская версияGermany's rising table tennis star Dimitrij Ovtcharov edged past Yo
Kan before veteran Timo Boll beat Japan's teen prodigy Jun
Mizutani at the Beijing Olympics on Saturday, Aug 16.
The second-seeded Germans will face the winner of the China-South
Korea contest to be played late Saturday.
The top-ranked Chinese
are favored to advance.
Ovtcharov, ranked number 14 in the world, bounced back after being
handed a yellow card in the first game. He defeated Yo Kan,
Japan's top player ranked 19th in the world, 11-7 11-13 13-11 9-11
and 12-10.
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Ovtcharov's low, crisp shots felled Yo Kan of Japan
Timo Boll, Germany's top player, thrilled his Chinese fans with
long-distance smashes in his match against Jun Mizutani. Boll won
11-5 8-11 11-4 and 11-7.
The crowd responded to the fast rallies with shouts of "Hao!"
(Good!) on every slam.
"It is a great pity that we lost the match. We've tried our best,
but the German team played even better," said Mizutani. "I played
very bad today, I don't know why," he added.
Japan overcame Germany in the doubles match and Yo Kan beat
Christian Suss in the fourth match to force a fifth and deciding
match. Boll held his nerve against Seiya Kishikawa, world number
63, to win 11-7 10-12 11-6 8-11 and 11-5.
Boll a huge star in China
Boll, two-time European champion and former world number 1, was
visibly moved by the decisive win.
"It was a hard-fought match in which all paddlers played to their
utmost and were exhausted. I am glad that we won," Boll said after
throwing himself to the ground after the game.
A star in table tennis-crazy China, Boll was given a pop star's
welcome when he arrived at the Games earlier in the month.
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Timo Boll is treated like a pop star in table tennis-crazy China
The unofficial welcoming committee at the airport was so
enthusiastic that Boll is reported ot have required a police
escort to get past a crush of fans, autograph-hunters and
television crews.
As part of the pre-Games build-up, Boll had been visited in Germany
by several Chinese journalists and has strived to keep his flock of
fans happy and informed via several Internet blogs and the Chinese
sports paper
Titan
.
(Deutsche Welle)
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