Table tennis: Mixed day for NZ sisters

Palmerston North student Karen Li was out-psyched by classy Singaporean player Jing Jun Hong in their table tennis pool match at the Olympic Games yesterday.

Li, 22, who had combined with older sister Li Chunli to win their opening doubles match on Saturday, went down in straight sets 9-21 13-21 12-21 and now has no realistic chance of making the knockout phase.

However, Li Chunli overcame first-set jitters to beat Lithuania's Ruta Garkauskaite 18-21, 21-17, 21-9, 21-8. Li was leading 13-9 in the first set, but with her service receive below par, the Lithuanian went on the attack with a series of powerful smashes.

Jing, an expatriate Chinese player who was once ranked No 10 in the world, is top seeded in their group of three and likely to qualify.

New Zealand table tennis manager Murray Finch said Karen Li was always going to have her work cut out against the more experienced player.

- NZPA