 South Korea's Yoon Jae-young, left, Ryu Seung-min, second from left, and Oh Sang-eun, second from right, celebrate after winning the bronze medal in the men's team table tennis competition at the Beijing Olympics Monday. / Reuters-Yonhap |
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
The Chinese dominance in table tennis is proving to be too difficult to overcome for South Koreans in these Games.
However, the Koreans seemed determined not to be beaten by anybody else.
The Korean men, led by defending Olympic singles champion Ryu Seung-min, took the bronze after downing Austria 3-1 in the men's team competition.
It matched the color of the medal won by their female counterparts a day earlier, and Ryu, who is now bracing for what looks to be a tough title defense in singles, called it his happiest third-place finish ever.
``I have seen a lot of athletes with their heads sunk down after a silver, so I never knew winning a bronze medal would feel this good," Ryu told reporters after the match, smiling.
Ryu's relief is easily understood as it took a gold-medal effort to clinch the bronze, with the spirited Austrians determined to win their first Olympic medal in the sport.
Ryu was rotating between hell and heaven, nearly costing his team the medal with his early struggles before recovering when his teammates needed him the most.
The Koreans got off to a smooth start, with veteran Oh Sang-eun downing Austrian ace Werner Schlager 3-1 in the first game to put his team ahead.
However, Ryu struggled to cope with a firing Robert Gardos in the second game, losing the first two sets before recovering in the third, only to concede the fourth to the Austrian for a 3-1 defeat.
With the contest tied 1-1, the Korean pair of Yoon Jae-young and Oh delivered in the clutch and rolled over the Austrian duo of Gardos and Chen Weixing to reclaim the lead.
In the fourth and decisive match, Ryu returned with a swagger, pummeling Chen in a 3-0 victory that displayed pure dominance.
``I have won the gold before, but Oh and Yoon had never had that experience, and I was determined to help them win an Olympic medal," said Ryu.
``I think I ended up putting too much pressure on myself through that thought process, and my struggles in the preliminaries didn't help me with my confidence.
``I was very disappointed after losing to Gardos, but I wasn't giving up. I liked my chances against Chen and I won easily.''
thkim@koreatimes.co.kr
