Published : Aug. 16, 2016 - 10:17
South Korea fell to China in the semifinals of the men's table tennis team event at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Monday.
Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald
In a rematch of the 2012 Olympic final, China defeated South Korea 3-0, winning the first two singles matches and then the doubles match to complete the shutout. Boasting three of the world's top four male players, China is going for a sweep of table tennis gold medals for the third straight Olympics.
South Korea has been relegated to Wednesday's bronze medal match against Germany, while China will meet Japan for the gold medal.
The men's team holds South Korea's last hope for a table tennis medal here, with the women's team having been eliminated in the quarters and no singles player having reached the podium.
South Korea won bronze in 2008 and silver in 2012 in the men's team event. It lost to China also by 3-0 in the final four years ago in London.
South Korea lost the first singles, with Zhang Jike beating Jeoung Young-sik 3-2 (13-15, 13-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-4).
Jeoung, world No. 12, pushed the fourth-ranked Zhang to the limits. The South Korean won the first game after forcing a deuce, before Zhang got one back in the next game.
In the third frame, Jeoung built an 8-4 lead before Zhang scored five straight points. It was then Jeoung's turn to get on a roll, as he came back with three unanswered points to take the game.
Jeoung led the fourth game 8-7, three points from a major upset, but Zhang, the individual silver medalist in Rio and the 2012 individual gold medal winner, refused to die.
He reeled off four straight points to take the fourth game and even the match. Then he dominated Jeoung to take the fifth game 11-4 and finish the match.
Joo Sae-hyuk, No. 14, went up against the top-ranked Ma Long, the individual gold medalist here, and proved to be no match.
Ma needed just 20 minutes to beat Joo 3-0 (11-1, 11-4, 11-4).
The Chinese was especially relentless in the first game, as he only conceded one point, and the match was never close from start to finish.
In the third doubles match, Zhang and Xu Xin defeated Jeoung and Lee Sang-su 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 11-6).
The South Koreans put up a valiant fight but still couldn't solve Xu, world No. 3, and Zhang. Jeoung and Lee held a game point at 10-8 in the second game but allowed four straight points to fall behind 2-0.
A 3-1 lead for the South Koreans in the third game soon turned into a 7-3 deficit, and they lost the game 11-6 and also the match.
Lee Chul-seung, the men's coach, said the Olympics is far from over for his team.
"We've done well so far, but the bronze medal match is really important," he said. "I think Germany may be slightly better than we are, but given the way Lee Sang-su and Jeoung Young-sik have been playing, I think we can beat them."
Lee Sang-su said he already forgot about Monday's loss and he will shift his focus to Wednesday's showdown against Germany.
"This is the event of my dreams, and if I leave here without any medal, I'd be devastated," he said. "We came here to try to win two team gold medals, but the women's team couldn't do it. We'll put everything we can to close out the Olympics on a positive note." (Yonhap)