Austria turn the tables on favourites

Dubai: Outsiders Austria stunned pre-tournament favourites Hong Kong China 3-1, while South Korea eased past Brazil 3-0 to enter the semi-finals of the men's competition at the World Table Tennis Cup Classic at Al Nasr Club last night.

The Europeans will meet world champions China in the first semi-final, while South Korea will have to await the winners of the last quarter-final that was to be played last between world number two Germany and qualifiers Nigeria.

The fourth and final semi-finalist in the women's competition was also scheduled to be decided with South Korea taking on the Republic of Congo later yesterday.

Chinese coach Liu Guoliang, who had predicted a semi-final against fellow Asians Hong Kong China was proved wrong when the Austrians came up with a clinical finish to a well-hatched plan.

The Austrians were not at all surprised with their shock defeat over one of the Asian powerhouses in table tennis.

Tough match

"It was a tough match and we always knew this. But we went in with a lot of belief and the win was a just reward," former world champion Werner Schlager told Gulf News.

In fact, Schlager ultimately turned out to be the hero when he clinched the crucial third singles against his Hong Kong opponent Yuk Cheung 3-2.

It started out well for the Austrian as he won the first two sets 11-6, 11-4, only to see Cheung come right back and take the next two 11-9 and 11-7 to force the deciding third set. Down 8-10, Schlager kept his cool to go on to win the next three points to win 11-9 to send his team jubilating.

"In the end it was a very mental thing and I think I had more variation in my game," Schlager said.

"Hong Kong was always going to be a tricky opponent and we knew it from the start. But we had a plan in mind and we just went about working around this plan. Luckily, we got a winning start [after Daniel Habesohn's 3-2 win against Ching Li] and from then on we had to just ride this solid start," Schlager added.

Always the modest champion Schlager refused to take the credit for the win. "It was a team effort and much of this credit ought to go to Daniel [Habesohn] due to the winning start he gave us," he said.

Results

Main competition:

Men's quarter-finals: Austria bt Hong Kong China 3-1; South Korea bt Brazil 3-0.

Today's schedule:

(10 am) Women's semi-final: China vs South Korea/Congo Brazaville; (1 pm).

Men's semi-final: China vs Austria; (4.30 pm) Women's semi-final: Japan vs Singapore; (7.30 pm) South Korea vs Germany/Nigeria.