Beijing Olympics 2008

Top seeded Chinese Ma Lin lifted the table tennis year-ending trophy here on Sunday after beating compatriot Wang Hao 4-2 in the men’s singles final.
The 27-year-old Ma revenged on Wang with the 12-10, 11-9, 10-12,11-8, 5-11, 11-9 victory at the ITTF ProTour Finals after his fall on both the ITTF world rankings and his title defending campaign in October’s World Cup.
Also he pocketed the 38,000 US dollars prize money for singles winner, plus a new Magaton by Volkswagen, the Title Sponsor of the event held in the Olympic venue of Beijing University Gymnasium on Dec. 13-16.
Ma, standing on the second position next to Wang Hao in the latest released world rankings, romped to lead 7-3 before taking the opening set 12-10 with powerful top-spin shots.
He remained in high to pull back five points in a row after opening the second set with 0-2 down before tying it for three times to 7-7 and improving it to 11-9.
Wang Hao managed to come back in the third and fifth sets against the anxious Ma, but failed to match the master on serve and receiving who had been a quartet World Cup title holder before losing to Wang two month ago.

China’s Ma Lin (R) reacts during the final of men’s singles against his teammate Wang Hao at the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals in Beijing, capital of China, December 16, 2007. Ma Lin claimed the title by beating Wang Hao 4-2. (Xinhua Photo/Zhao Peng)

Ma Lin’s victory turned to be an even more extraordinary one as the Olympic doubles winner in Athens failed in Sunday’s pre-match examination on racket. The referees said Ma’s racket was unqualified with thicker sponge and too much solvent-based speed glue.
He had to use Wang Hao’s racket to beat Ma Long in the afternoon’s semifinals and again fix his own racket with Wang’s sponge before evening’s doubles and singles finals.
Earlier in the semis, Wang Hao had beaten off reigning world champion Wang Liqin with a surprisingly easy win, 11-9, 11-7, 5-11,11-5, 11-7.

from: xinhuanet.com