MAGDEBURG, Germany -- Reining World Champion Wang Liqin suffered defeat on the opening day of the Magdeburg Table Tennis World Team Cup on Friday, while the men's and women's teams of China were still unbeaten.
China's Zhang Yining serves to Japan's Fujinuma Ai during their table tennis team match in the 2nd round of Group A between the two countries for the Magdeburg Table Tennis World Team Cup in Magdeburg, Germany October 5, 2007. [Xinhua]Wang was beaten in four games by Leung Chu Yan in the contest against Hong Kong.
This was the first losing game for the powerful Chinese team in the qualifying round of the tournament.
However, that was the only reverse in the fixture for China. Ma Lin beat Cheung Yuk, Wang Liqin overcame Li Ching later on whilst Wang Hao and Ma Lin combined to win the doubles against Cheung Yuk and Li Ching.
Chinese head coach Liu Guoliang attributed Wang's defeat to his failure to adapt to time difference.
"For the first thing, Wang had not yet adapted to the time difference after he arrived in Germany," Liu told Xinhua after the match.
"For the other, Wang Liqin was not aggressive, he was not in high morale in his fight," he added.
For the Chinese men's team as a whole, they finished the day in top place in Group A, having earlier beaten Russia. Hong Kong and France both had one win each.
Hong Kong defeated France in their opening duel. The latter beat Russia later.
Meanwhile, in Group B of the men's event, both Austria and South Korea finished the day with two wins each. Both beat Germany and the Czech Republic.
Due to the absence of Timo Boll, who caught a cold, the host team was eliminated during the qualifying round on Friday.
Germany lost to Austria 3-1 and South Korea 3-2.
On Saturday, South Korea and Austria will fight to decide their fixtures in the semi-finals.
In the women's event, both China and South Korea finished the day unbeaten.
In Group A, China fielding the team of Zhang Yining, Li Xiaoxia and Wang Nan on both occasions, overcame Hungary and Japan.
In Group B, South Korea won hard fought duels against Hong Kong and Austria.
In Group A, the second place was occupied by Hungary who ended the day with victory over Germany, who was third after beating Japan in their opening match.
Both Austria and Hong Kong beat luckless Belarus, and the duel between them would be really tough.
The Hong Kong-Belarus contest lasted fifteen minutes short of four hours with four of the five matches going the full five games distance.
"After losing to South Korea this morning, I decided to make a change in the team," said Hong Kong head coach Li Huifen
The change made by Li Huifen was replacing Lin Ling with Lau Sui Fei.
On Saturday morning, the tournament will continue its qualifying round, while on Saturday afternoon and evening, semi-finals are expected to stage.
丹麦亲王拒绝与女王合葬:死后不想再被压一头
睡眠时间直接影响你的腰围大小
爹妈什么仇!这些奇葩名字简直倒霉透啦
拜托!“买单”不要再说“pay the bill”啦!
小黄车联手蕾哈娜,发起全球公益事业
国际英语资讯:Kenyans urged to remain calm amid poll anxiety
英国ITV翻拍黑化版《傲慢与偏见》
体坛英语资讯:Lao athletes eye 3-5 golds at upcoming SEA Games
高个子男性更容易患前列腺癌
体坛英语资讯:Norways Warholm wins mens 400m hurdles title at athletics worlds (updated)
BBC推荐:8月必看的9部电影[1]
辽宁省实验中学分校2016-2017学年高一6月月考英语试卷
国际英语资讯:Contaminated eggs scandal underlines need to enhance food safety coordination within EU
立秋不是秋天 依然热成狗
网上疯转的健康饮食方式 或许并不适合你
《权力的游戏》中的毛皮大衣竟然是宜家的地毯
惊险!英女子被慢跑者撞倒险些丧命 司机紧急转向避免悲剧
"For the birds"难道是"给鸟的"?
夏天的英国牛津绝对是旅客的地狱
体坛英语资讯:Canadian coach Ramsay to lead Slovakia ice hockey team in Olympic Season