China wins Asian Championships

(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTF)

Team China won the ITTF-ATTU 28th Asian Table Tennis Team Championships. That headline is no surprise, but their path has not been easy. China’s opening match was against the Islamic Republic of Iran and there were fireworks from Iran’s young star, Benyamin Faraji. Faraji, still just 15 years old, started the team competition with a 3-2 victory over world number 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 victories. Alamiyan Noshod won his first match against Liang Jingkun, a short time that matched Faraji’s enthusiasm and excitement. This time, however, it was Jingkun who won three tight matches (at 13-11, 11-8 and 13-11). Iran fought admirably from then on, but the decision was made – and China won 3-1.

A day later, Japan added another scare, winning the first two games 3-2 before losing the next three games 2-3. The two wins were Tomokazu Harimoto over Liang Jingkun and Sora Matsushima over Wang Chuqin. From then on, Japan only needed one more win, but in each of the last three matches they fell one game short. China wins 3-2 and advances to the Final.

The other semi-final was a disappointment, 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 from Baldwin Chan. The win sent Hong Kong to the final to face China, where the much lower-ranked Hong Kong side fell 0–3.

China wins – but this was a title that required real work.

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