(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTF)
Team China won the ITTF-ATTU 28th Asian Table Tennis Team Championships. That headline is not a surprise, but their path was not an easy one. China’s opening match was against the Islamic Republic of Iran and there were fireworks from Iran’s young star, Benyamin Faraji. Faraji, at just 15 years old, started the team competition off with a 3-2 upset win over World No. 2 Lin Shidong. Shidong won the first game, Faraji then took three of the next four in exciting fashion with 12-10, 11-8, and 11-9 scores in his three wins. Alamiyan Noshod won his first game against Liang Jingkun, for a short time matching the enthusiasm and excitement of Faraji. This time, however, it was Jingkun who won three tight games (at 13-11, 11-8, and 13-11). Iran fought admirably from that point forward, but it was decided – and China won 3-1.
A day later, Japan added an additional scare – winning the first two matches 3-2 before losing the next three matches 2-3. The two wins were Tomokazu Harimoto over Liang Jingkun and Sora Matsushima over Wang Chuqin. From that point forward, Japan only needed one win – but in each of the final three matches they fell one game short. China wins 3-2 and moves on to the Final.
The other Semifinal was an upset with Hong Kong topping Taipei 3-2. Taipei played without their highest ranked player, Lin Yun-Ju. Ultimately, it came down to the final match and a strong come-from-behind finish by Baldwin Chan. The win sent Hong Kong into the Final to face China – where the much lower seeded Hong Kong squad fell 0-3.
China wins – but this was one title that required real work.
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