China's Li Xiaoxia wins table tennis gold (updated with Sharara's quotes)
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E-mail Xinhua, August 2, 2012
By Sportswriter Chang Ailing
LONDON, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Li Xiaoxia defeated world number one Ding Ning in an all-Chinese final on Wednesday, winning the Olympic women's table tennis singles gold medal.
Li, seeded No. 2, triumphed 11-8, 14-12, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4.
It was China's 21st Olympic table tennis gold since the game was introduced to the 1988 Seoul Games.
Ding was deducted three points, two for service and one for using towel at the wrong time.
"Today I met great obstacles in the match, not only from the opponent, but also from the umpire," Ding said after the final.
Ding, apparently disrupted by the penalties, was in tears during the competition when she got the third penalty, a red card, from the Italian umpire Paola Bongelli in the fourth set. The red card immediately followed the second service penalty when Ding was 2-5 down.
"I used the towel to calm myself down after getting the service penalty. Then the umpire might think I used the towel at the wrong time and gave me a red card," Ding said.
"As players, we need to adjust to the changing situations. But Xiaoxia and I are about at the same level. Such penalties affected my performance and made it difficult for me to control the situation," she said.
Ding is a left-handed attacker with a unique squatting service that her opponents find difficulty to adjust to. This type of service has got Ding penalties several times at London 2012.
"I've been using such services over the past two years and didn't get any penalty, not even a warning. I don't understand why suddenly the umpires (at London 2012) started to give me penalties and the penalties became increasingly strict.
"In the beginning, I got penalty for squatting service, but (standing service using) forehand is OK. Then even forehand service also got me penalty. Whenever I wanted to change my service tactics, I got penalty, unless I used the high ball toss. In the end, I felt there was almost no way for me to serve."
The penalties also caused some catcalls from spectators, who made thunderous noise to cheer Ding up.
Li Xiaoxia remained well-controlled throughout the game.
When asked to comment whether the penalties were too strict, Li said: "This is what competitive sports are. You have to face everything. I had expected that rules in the Olympic Games would be stricter, therefore I didn't use any hook service in the game. I would rather lower my service quality than risk getting penalty."
Adham Sharara, president of the International Table Tennis Federation, talked to Ding after the medal ceremony.
"I told her she is still world champion. And I hope she is Olympic champion next time," said Sharara.
Talking about the penalties, Sharara said the rule is that ball has to go vertically upwards and the umpire allows some kind of tolerance. In Ding's case, the umpire felt she was throwing the ball back too far.
"Ding is a fair player. I think it's probably the border line. She called the border line right. The umpire called the border line wrong. It's a very thin line," Sharara said.
Sharara said Ding is experienced as far as technique is concerned, but she needs to learn to adapt to different situations.
"Maybe this is the first time she confronts an umpire who is so strict," said the ITTF chief.
"She has to learn that in the future when this happens, she has to adjust. She has to have another service, something else that she dose not get calls from the umpire. Because this can destroy your concentration and then you lose your gold medal just because of the call form the umpire. She is young. I think she will come back."
Born in 1988, Li started playing table tennis at 7. A fast and powerful right-handed attacker, Li has been a member of the national team since 2001. She was the 2008 World Cup winner.
"Winning the Olympic gold medal is a dream come true. I've gone through pains and hardships to pursue the dream. But I finally conquered myself. This demonstrated that persistence brings success."
Li was a substitute in the 2008 Olympics where China swept the medals in the women's singles and the team gold in Beijing.
"I dreamed of participating in the Olympics. I wanted so much to step into the Olympic venue under the watch of the whole world and prove myself."
Asked how she would comfort Ding, Li said: "We are all excellent players. I believe she will recover soon, because next is the team event. It's time to show our teamwork."
With a 4-0 win over Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa, Singapore's Feng Tianwei finished third, winning Singapore's first Olympic singles medal in table tennis.
Feng dominated the game, defeating Ishikawa 11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 11-5.
A former Chinese player who moved to Singapore in 2007, Feng also helped Singapore win a silver medal in the women's team event at Beijing 2008.
Ishikawa, 19, is one of the most promising young players in the world. Seeded fourth, she upset veteran players to enter the top four in London.
Also on Wednesday, top seed Zhang Jike of China beat Hong Kong player Jiang Tianhyi in five sets to cruise into the men's singles semifinals.
Zhang's teammate Wang Hao, seeded No. 2, also booked a semifinal spot after beating Seiya Kishikawa in four straight sets.
Thursday's semifinals feature Zhang vs Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov, and Wang against Chinese Taipei's Chuang Chih-Yuan. Enditem
