China beats HK team to meet Singapore in table tennis final

Just like two years ago in Moscow, the women's final of the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Dortmund will be contested between Singapore and China, which beat the Hong Kong team 3-1 on Saturday.

Reigning individual world champion Ding Ning gave China a perfect start by beating Jiang Huajun in straight sets (11-9, 11-4, 11-4). However Hong Kong's Tie Yana, ranked 10th in the world, bounced back by overcoming Li Xiaoxia, currently world No. 4, in four sets (12-10, 11-9, 7-11, 14-12).

The defeat spurred the top seeds to perform better and Gua Yan gave Yu Kwok See no chance (11-4, 11-8, 11-3). Li Xiaoxia took revenge for her defeat by crushing Jiang Huajun 3-0 (11-5, 11-1, 11-4).

The final of 2012 will be a repeat of the final of two years ago in Moscow, when Singapore beat China 3-1 and caused one of the biggest upsets in table tennis history.

"Li Xiaoxia lost one match today, but I think it's normal," said head coach Shi Zhihao. "It's a very close match. However, I think that loss will help us to find our problems. I noticed that the Singapore team entered the final twice with 3-2. But no matter how tough their games were, they won in the end, proving their ability. They are defending champions, we are fighting for the title."

"I was too eager to win the match," Li Xiaoxia said. "I hoped to win that match very quickly, but I failed. My preparation was not so good. Tomorrow is different. Everybody should start from zero. I need to be more confident."