Chinese pair to clash in table tennis final
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E-mail Xinhua, August 1, 2012
China's top favorite Ding Ning said Tuesday that she will be very careful with her service and try to avoid getting penalties in Wednesday's women's singles table tennis final against her teammate Li Xiaoxia.
China has already secured the gold and silver medals in women's singles after Ding and Li defeated Singapore's Feng Tianwei and Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa respectively.
Ding got two service penalties in the match against Feng. She lost the two sets in which the umpire awarded a point to Feng, but managed to win the game 4-2 (11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 12-10, 6-11 and 11-6).
Ding admitted that the penalty disrupted her strategy, especially the one in the third set.
"In the past, umpire would give a warning first. But this time (in the third set), he directly gave me a penalty. I felt confused. And that had an impact on me more or less. The fifth set is the same problem."
In table tennis, service starts with the ball resting freely on the open palm of the server's stationary free hand. The server then projects the ball near vertically upwards, without imparting spin, so that it rises at least 16cm after leaving the palm of the free hand and falls without touching anything before being struck. Ding is a left-handed attacker with a unique service that her opponents find difficulty to adjust to.
"I didn't get any service penalty in any competition over the past two years. But starting from yesterday, I kept getting penalty (or warning), no matter in squatting position or in standing using forehand."
"I only have four types of service. Three of them have got me penalties (at London 2012)," Ding said.
Ding said she was more cautious after the umpire awarded a point to Feng in the fifth set. "I dare not to use some services. I have to change my tactics."
"I think they may think my service was not high enough or straight enough. I'll work on this with my coach and solve the problem," Ding said.
According to competition rules, if a player, against whom three penalty points have been awarded in the same individual match, continues to misbehave, the umpire will suspend play and report immediately to the referee.
Flexible in tactics and tenacious in defense, Ding impressed the spectators with her incredible footwork and great ability in open rally in Tuesday's semifinal.
Ding reached match point at 10-4. After a rally with Feng, Ding was adjudged to have won the game. But she called the umpire's attention to the fact it was actually Feng's point.
"The umpire judged that I had won but I noticed the ball had caught on the edge so I pointed it out. You could say that I felt better pointing it out."
Talking about her final against teammate Li, Ding said they have played each other so often and both worked hard on their game. "It's going to be a hard to predict. I think both of us will be really going for it."
Tiredness might have been an issue resulting in Feng's defeat. She fought a 67-minute hard battle against South Korea's top chopper Kim Kyung-Ah in quarterfinals in the morning, while Ding's quarterfinal match against Japan's Ai Fukuhara only lasted 36 minutes.
![Ding Ning of China competes during women's table tennis individual quarterfinals, at London 2012 Olympic Games in London, Britain, on July 31, 2012. Ding Ning of China defeated Ai Fukuhara of Japan 4-0. [Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20120801/000cf1bdc9db1182d75a0b.jpg "Ding Ning of China competes during women's table tennis individual quarterfinals, at London 2012 Olympic Games in London, Britain, on July 31, 2012. Ding Ning of China defeated Ai Fukuhara of Japan 4-0. [Xinhua]") |
| Ding Ning of China competes during women's table tennis individual quarterfinals, at London 2012 Olympic Games in London, Britain, on July 31, 2012. Ding Ning of China defeated Ai Fukuhara of Japan 4-0. [Xinhua] |
"I felt if the match (semifinal) was held tomorrow, I would play better. I was too tired this morning," Feng said.
Feng's coach Jing Junhong said Feng's odds against Ding is only 30 percent. "Ding Ning is more determined and tough. In the first two sets, Feng cannot find a breaking point, and therefore played a bit conservatively."
Li Xiaoxiao defeated Ishikawa 4-1 (11-5, 11-4, 11-13, 11-6 and 11-7).
Li said she is happy the gold medal is definitely going to the Chinese. "I'll get ready for the fight against her and try my best to win."
Shi Zhihao, head coach of the Chinese women's table tennis team, said he won't speak to any of them about tactics in order to be fair.
"They have to prepare for themselves. Tactics are not important, because they know each other's game so well. The most important thing for them is that they have the right way of thinking. They need to enjoy the game."
Out of the eight games Ding and Li competed over the last three years, Ding won six of them.
Ishikawa will play against Feng for a bronze medal on Wednesday.Also on Tuesday, Chuang Chih-Yuan from Chinese Taipei advanced to the semifinals after beating out Adrian Crisan of Romania in four straight sets in 20 minutes. Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov also got a semifinal berth after a seven-set tight match against Denmark's Michael Maze.
On Wednesday, China's Zhang Jike will fight against Hong Kong's Jiang Tianyi for a seat in the semifinal. Japan's Seiya Kishikawa will fight against China's Wang Hao to reach the top four.
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