Huang progresses to single's final

03 August 2002

Men’s table tennis favourite, Canadian Johnny Huang, avoided a repeat of the controversy that saw him walk out of his men’s doubles match.

Huang keeps his cool to reach final

Huang recorded a 4-1 victory over India’s Chetan Baboor, claiming he had regained his focus after the incident.

Huang said afterwards: “It was quite tough, more difficult than I expected. He was taking a lot of risks. It is good to have a tough match before the final.”

Huang is also facing a battle against illness: “Three days ago I had to take medication from the doctor for a virus, which I’m still on. I’m still not completely satisfied at the moment.”

Baboor said afterwards: “It depended on my ability to pass him. He was playing very hard. I needed to be more consistent in passing him in my attack. I was passing him on and off, but couldn’t keep it going. In the second game I almost had him. I think I played well technically but couldn’t keep him down. He is a very aggressive player. I just needed to keep the consistency going.”

Segun Teriola of Nigeria recorded a semi-final win against Duan Yong Jun of Singapore to meet Juang in tomorrow’s final.

Teriola is now the player’s favourite to take gold.

He said he will try to keep calm for the final: “I will try not to think about it too much, because you get too confused and too careful. I just need to relax.”

Info News Service/tp/eg/pjt