ATHENS, Aug. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- "Though I have lost, I have also won simply because of my participation in the Games," Momo Babungu,a table tennis player from the Democratic Republic of Congo, said after his Olympic journey ended here Sunday afternoon.

    Babungu, 21, and his young partner Jose Luyindula, suffered a straight 0-4 loss to Petr Korbel/Richard Vyborny of the Czech Republic, one of Europe's best pairs and also seeded 19th at this Games, in men's doubles first round of the table tennis tournamentof the 2004 Athens Olympiad.

    As Babungu and Luyindula had both lost in the men's singles first round Saturday, their Olympic quest had come to an end though the tournament just entered its second day.

    "But I have gained great experience at this Games, and I will use the experience I got here in the future competition, for example, at the next African Games," said Babungu, who lost in thesingles 0-4 to Africa's number one player, Monday Merotohun of Nigeria.

    It was the first time for Babungu to play at the Olympic Games,though he said that "it has been my dream for a long time to participate in the Games".

    "I know there are so many good table tennis players in the world. I know that in China there are many of them who have dreamed of participating in the Games, but they have never got thechance,"said the Congolese. "So for me, though I lose, I win simply because I participated."

    St Mathieu, team leader of Congo, said that he was quite satisfied with what his players had done in Athens.

    "You know, one of my players, Luyindula, was actually a junior group player, and he didn't pair up with Babungu until late July. They have never trained together for doubles before," he explained.

    And in Saturday's singles match, though Luyindula lost 0-4 to DPR Korea's ace player O Il, he lost only by a small margin in most of the games.

    "The scores were 8-11, 8-11, 4-11 and 7-11," recalled St Mathieu. "It's not bad for my boy, really not bad."

    "I think my players played very well at this Games and got somegreat experience," he concluded. Enditem