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Home → Atlanta Olympics 1996

Olympic Table Tennis
Through The Eye Of The Video Camera

BY GARY RUDERMAN, Owner-Producer, Reflex Sports

PART 3 of 3

The quarter-finals begin

In the Quarter-Finals, Korbel picked up even more steam as he beat Saive at his own game. Korbel was quicker, pouncing on anything he could drive and doing the seemingly impossible by overwhelming Saive in three. Liu Guoliang and Johnny Huang faced off in the battle of the hitters and pips-out attackers, with Liu outslugging Huang in four games. Rosskopf's game seemed to be significantly stronger than we recall, and we looked forward to his match with Kim Taek Soo and one of those great spinning matches usually reserved for the best of the Europeans. We were not disappointed as they produced what may be the most exciting match of the decade! ! This match had all the dramatic ingredients---two fiercely intense and physical players, one with the best forehand loop kill in the game and the other with the best backhand loop kill. Kim seemed to be on a mission to overcome his several near misses at reaching the finals of previous Olympics and World Championships, while Rosskopf appeared determined to be the European who takes the gold.

In the first game, Rosskopf seemed overmatched, as Kim loop-killed every return of service push to win at 12. In the second, Rosskopf opened up against short backspin services, either flipping with his backhand or spinning with his forehand, to eke out a 26-24 victory. In the third he continued this strategy, but also pushed service returns deep and hard to Kim's backhand, and opened up on the return of that push, winning easily at 12. Kim changed his strategy in the fourth, moving yet faster to cover his backhand with forehand spins, to win at 16. The fifth game was another seesaw battle. One highlighfans on their feet cheering. The game continued with one heat point in particular, at 13-11, had one heart- stopping moment after the other, with neither player hesitating to come up with an all-out attack... no matter the score. This masterpiece continued until Rosskopf finally prevailed at 26-24, leaving the crowd buzzing in admiration and excitement. I must admit that as excited as I was in shooting this match, I still found myself, while editing, caught up again in the tension of the competition, with my palms sweaty and my heart in my throat as the fifth game came down to the wire. My emotions seemed to override my intelligence because even though I knew who had won, I was still nervous about the outcome.

And to think that NBC ignored this match, which may have been the most exciting hour of the entire Olympics! They said that Table Tennis didn't fit into their schedule...or their guess as to what their audience wanted to see. According to the AOB, the Olympic broadcasters, every country in the world saw the major table tennis matches----except the USA. As in 1992, NBC again butchered table tennis, this time with a 10 minute fluff peace rather than showing the dynamic play. The few snippets of play they did show left the impression that only Chinese played the game. NBC even went so far as to make a comment like "even in table tennis, players can get hurt" as they showed Wang Tao turning his ankle. That lack of coverage and attitude toward our sport motivated me even further as I realized that the majority of matches at the Olympics would go unrecorded without us, and that we provide the only thorough coverage of the competition to the U.S. as well as to many other countries.

"Come on Forrest Gump" or "Let's go Forrest" could be heard many times from spectators, many of whom probably did not know what to expect from the table tennis competition. They were, however, very enthusiastic and amazed at what they saw. Standing ovations were commonplace after great points or matches. I was amazed that they could attract 4000 to 5000 spectators per session, mostly Americans. The crowds were kept entertained even when matches were not in progress. Music blared, with a favorite being that old standard from The Village People, YMCA. It was quite a sight to see fans dancing in their seats to YMCA while players warmed up for their matches.

Wang Tao's match against Samsonov pit the wily veteran against the star of the future, and this match, too, went five games, with Wang Tao finding a way to recover from being down two games to none. In the first two games, Samsonov appeared the stronger, the quicker and the more confident, hitting through Wang at will. Samsonov spin-killed right off the bounce seemingly without effort. He is so smooth that it sometimes seems to go unnoticed how overwhelming he can be. In subsequent games, Wang found chinks in Samsonov's armor, and took away those shots at which Samsonov is particularly adept. Wang was also helped by a technical problem with the generator that powered the lighting system, as the court darkened twice, for twenty and ten minutes at a time, just when it appeared that Samsonov was regaining momentum. The second blackout occurred in the fifth game, with Samsonov down 8-10, and Samsonov seemed shaky when the lights returned, losing the game and match at 15. During the second blackout, the PA announcer said something to the effect of "ladies and gentlemen, while we have about a ten minute delay, this may be a good time to check out the souvenir and concession stands." The audience booed. After that match, I predicted that Samsonov, with his youth and his natural talent, would someday be a world or Olympic champion. We think you will agree when you study his play on tape.

The Semi-Final match between Rosskopf and Liu Guoliang was a demonstration of the best of the European and Chinese styles. Rosskopf has developed his double-wing lefty power spinning style to its ultimate, with his backhand loop kill easily the best in the world. He has fine-tuned his close-to-the-net play and has become a more consistent shot maker. He is more tactical, much steadier and not just the machine he used to be. Liu's hybrid game is the result of decisions made high in the Chinese TT coaching hierarchy. Liu capitalizes on the benefits of the proven penhold pips-out flat-hitting forehand, while overcoming the weakness of the typical penhold same-side backhand by mastering a real backhand spinny-rubber loop! Liu smashes his way to a first game victory at 17, but Rosskopf increases the pressure to win the second at 18. The next two games are close, and highlight points abound, but Liu's smash wins over Rosskopf's spin to take both games at 18.

The other Semi-Final between Wang Tao and Petr Korbel had a different look, since both players managed off-the-bounce loops, especially Korbel who, in the first three-quarters of the first game, was textbook perfect in attacking a style such as Wang's. Although Korbel started out strong, leading 17-13, Wang found and exploited some weaknesses to eke out a 23-21 victory. At one particularly exciting highlight point, the crowd leaped to its collective feet in a roar of approval, including "dream-team" member Reggie Miller who sat in the ITTF section with hat pulled down and dark glasses on, perhaps believing he could effect anonymity for his interest in table tennis. Wang continued to show his mastery, winning the match in three. Other notables in attendance were David Stern, commissioner of the NBA, French tennis star Yannick Noah, and President Clinton's daughter, Chelsea. We were told that Forrest Gump (AKA Tom Hanks) himself would be in attendance for the medal matches but that didn't transpire.

We were now ready to shoot the match between Rosskopf and Korbel to determine which of the Europeans would take home the bronze medal. This match had it all---long spinning rallies, highlight points to spare and close-to-the-net technical strategy. When Rosskopf took the match point in the fourth game with an incredible forehand kill, the crowd rose to cheer and Rosskopf dropped to the ground in ecstasy...double exclamation points at the end of a match to remember!!

The final between Liu and Wang was marked by quick, point-ending exchanges, which permitted the younger, quicker and more emphatic Liu to prevail in five games.

The drama behind the semi-final and final matches in Women' s play was the determination of the Chinese Women not to let Chen Jing of Chinese Taipei win the gold, since she had defected from her position on the mainland Chinese team. Qiao Hong did not succeed in stopping her, but the mighty Deng Yaping managed to prevail in five, to repeat as the gold medal winner. The intensity in the Final was memorable, and the counter- attacking style of both players generated enthusiastic cheers from the audience.

When we packed up our gear to leave Atlanta after the final match, it was with both a sense of regret and relief--- regret that this once-in-four-year event was ending, relief that the exhausting process of videotaping was completed. We bid farewell and offered our thanks to venue director Richard McAfee and to the many volunteers at the venue who had helped to make our job a lot easier. Many of the volunteers were table tennis players, and despite having been saturated with ten days of the sport, they were anxious to know when the DVDs would be ready.

Now that we have released the videos to the table tennis community, we are anxious to hear from our viewers as to whether they agree with our impressions of this great event!



The matches begin



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