Table Tennis: English ambitions stymied

ENGLAND'S surviving singles players all suffered a North Korean eclipse during an amazing sesson in which, for the second day in a row, a defending singles champion was beaten by a qualifier in the world championships here yesterday. Lisa Lomas, Chen Zinhua and Alan Cooke were all brought down by players from Pyongyang but the biggest disappointments were reserved for China, writes James Leigh from Gothenburg.

First Deng Yaping, the defending champion, was beaten in five games. Then her Olympic doubles partner and team-mate, Qiao Hong, lost in four. Both went out to China-born opponents, respectively the Singaporean, Jing Jun Hong, and the German champion, Jie Schopp.

The English departures of Cooke and Lomas had been expected. Both did well, however, Cooke leading two games to one against the 19th-seeded Kim Song Hui and Lomas leading

18-15 in the third game and 15-11 in the fourth against the fifth seeded Li Bun Hui. The defeat of Chen, the England No 1, was technically a surprise, though his opponent Kim Myong Jun looked one to watch.