A brave effort but alas in vain; that was the scenario in the
matches which sparked the contests in the third round of the Men’s
Doubles event at the H.I.S. World Championships in Yokohama in the
early afternoon of Saturday 2nd May 2009.
The favourites prevailed but only just with the vanquished giving spirited performances.
No pair more so than Jörgen Persson and Robert Svensson.
Time Out Crucial
The
Swedes trailed Hong Kong’s Cheung Yuk and Li Ching by three games to
nil before recovering to force a decider, a decider in which Chan Kon
Wah, the Head Coach of the Hong Kong’s Men’s Team produced a master
stroke.
At 6-all, with the Swedes in confident mood, he called
"Time Out"; the Hong Kong pair won the next four points, the first
match point was saved but then a cruel edge, which Persson did his best
to retrieve in acrobatic style, signalled the end.
It was the end of the match and the end of Persson’s World Championship career.
Good Coach
"Good
coach, very good coach", smiled the enigmatic Li Ching, always brimful
of energy and whatever the scenario, always with a bright smile on his
face; he is the joker in the pack.
If Li Ching is playing, something will happen to attract the attention.
"Chan
Kon Wah told me to change my service", explained Li Ching. "He told me
to serve with little backspin, Persson flicked the return but not
strongly and Cheung Yuk was able to attack strongly."
Alternative View
Certainly, the "Time Out" worked but the view of Persson was somewhat different.
"I
think we were very unlucky to lose all of the first three games", said
the Swedish legend, the point being that the first and third games were
surrendered by the very narrowest of margins.
Fortune
"They
had the luck, we were playing well, it was just a case of keep going,
keep going; in doubles things can change so very quickly", added
Persson. "Also, Robert started to play better, he moved better and his
powerful forehand won many points; I’m the architect, I try to make the
openings, he’s the killer."
Maybe so but my memory suggests that the forehand of Persson has been pretty lethal over the years!
Seventh Game
So what about the seventh game?
"Yes,
it was a good "Time Out", that’s for sure", reflected Persson. "We
missed two blocks, they had the luck and as I said, things can change
so quickly in doubles."
Alas for Sweden they did and alas for
Persson his final point in a World Championships was decided with an
edge ball; the Swede now retires from international play after a
glittering career and with special memories of Japan.
Cheung Yuk and Li Ching won 11-9, 11-3, 11-9, 10-12, 5-11, 9-11, 11-7.
Defeat with Honour
Defeat
with honour and that was the situation for the three other vanquished
pairs in the third round of the Men’s Doubles event.
China’s top
seeded Chen Qi and Wang Hao were extended to six games by Poland’s
Lucjan Blaszczyk and Wang Zengyi; they won 11-4, 11-8, 11-7, 11-13,
6-11, 11-5.
Similarly, it was a valiant effort by Germany’s
Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Bastian Steger. They fell by a similar margin
against China’s Hao Shuai and Zhang Jike, the latter duo succeeded
13-11, 11-6, 9-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-9.
Koreans Tested by Host Nation’s Teenagers
Defeat
for visiting European pairs and for the host nation; the crowd lifted
Jin Ueda and Kenji Matsudaira to greater heights but against the
experience of Korea’s Oh Sang Eun and Ryu Seung Min, it was not to be.
The
Koreans were severely tested but emerged victorious, recovering from a
two games to nil deficit to win 6-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9, 11-5.
Source: www.ittf.com
