By Sportswriter Wu Zhi
BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Ai Fukuhara wore
a big smile after being knocked out of the Olympic women's singles table tennis
competition, contrary to her usual tendency to turn on the waterworks over
defeat.
"I played very well today and I'm very satified. I
demonstarted everything I learned in the training, so I give myself 90 points
(out of 100)," the 19-year-old said, her eyes twinkling with joy.
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Ai Fukuhara of Japan returns the ball to
Zhang Yining of China during their match in women's singles fourth round
of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games table tennis event in Beijing, China, Aug.
21, 2008. Zhang Yining beat Ai Fukuhara 4-1. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
Photo
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China's Zhang Yining, who won singles and doubles
gold medals at the Athens Games, beat Fukuhara 4-1 in the 1/8 round.
The Beijing native, ranked 1st in the world, said she
felt quite assured of a victory over the Japanese star and all she wanted to do
during the match was hurry up and go back home for a rest.
Fukuhara said that she was not sad about being drawn
against the defending champion so early in the competition, which denied her the
chance to improve her personal best at the Olympic Games.
She failed to reach the last 8 at the Athens singles
competition fours years ago.
"I wasn't nervous today. I feel fortunate to play the
world's best player and I think I found the trick to playing at the Olympic
Games," she said.
Fukuhara and her teammates burst into tears after
they lost to South Korea in the team bronze contest last week.
"We really wanted to win the bronze medal because we
have never won an Olympic medal for Japan and it is the last Games for our
coach," Fukuhara said.
Japan, which has never won an Olympic table tennis
medal since the sport was introduced at the 1988 Seoul Games, finished third
three times at the biennial world team championships between 2004-2008.
Japan's other two women players, Fukuoka Haruna and
Sayaka Hirano, were both eliminated in the 1/16 round late Wednesday.
