Table Tennis: Chunli a hot prospect in singles

By MARK GEENTY

Li Chunli had only a bronze medal to show for her efforts yesterday, but she has firmly established herself as one of New Zealand's stars in Manchester.

Chunli once more carried the women's team to the brink of the gold medal match, beating Singapore's two best players, ranked in the world top 20.

But the support acts - her sister, Karen Li, and Tracey McLauchlan - were not up to it and New Zealand lost their semifinal 3-2.

The team, including unlucky Laura Lee-Smith who did not play a match, still snared the bronze without having to play off for third.

Chunli joked that she was ageing well, having turned 40 this year. It was hard to argue against that as she clocked up her 10th straight win here and raised her hand as the early favourite for the individual gold medal later this week.

"It was a fantastic effort from a superstar, really. She's a very special player and we've kept her right for the big matches in the singles," coach Simeon Cairns said.

Cairns showed his worth as a coach by taking the gamble of promoting McLauchlan to No 1, effectively sacrificing two of the five matches. He relied on Chunli winning both matches and Karen Li beating the No 3.

Chunli did the job against Jing Jun Hong, ranked 16th in the world, with a four-set win to level the tie at 1-1.

Karen Li then had chances in her match against Zhang Xiu Li, who she had beaten before, but lost 8-11, 9-11, 8-11.

Chunli kept her roll going and had three match-points before finishing off world No 9 and Games singles top seed Li Jia Wei in five sets, 11-8 in the fifth.

"They were very good wins for me. Jing Jun Hong was No 4 at the Sydney Olympics and I lost to her at the Commonwealth championships last year, so I'm very happy with my overall game," Chunli said as she was surrounded by young autograph hunters.

"I think I am improving because last year I lost to them. Maybe I am playing better as I get older."

Chunli was born in China, emigrated to New Zealand in 1984 and has competed at the last three Olympics.

Cairns said: "Luck was on our shoulder, we had a good draw with England and we dictated the match. We hoped we were going to get Canada in the semis, but it was still a great effort."

The men's team, after being eliminated from the medal race by Singapore on Monday, finished eighth after losing 1-3 to Wales and 2-3 to Canada yesterday.

- NZPA

Full coverage:
nzherald.co.nz/manchester2002

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