Ma leads China to table tennis team title in Doha

DOHA, Dec 3 (Reuters) World number two Ma Lin came from behind to beat South Korea's Oh Sang-eun and lead China to a fourth straight men's table tennis team gold at the Asian Games today.

Playing without rested world number one Wang Liqin, world champions China looked to Ma, Wang Hao and Chen Qi to deliver a seventh Asian Games title in a fourth consecutive final against the Koreans, and they did not disappoint with a 3-0 win.

''The three players all played very well,'' said China's coach Liu Guo Liang.

''There were problems but they adjusted well. There were ups and down so I'm delighted with a 3-0 result.

''Our success is the result of the efforts of lots of people over the decades, that foundation is what keeps us on top of the world.'' Five of the world's top 10 were in action in a repeat of May's world championships final and it looked like being a close contest when Olympic champion Ryu Seung-min, backed by a rousing Korean support, raced to an early lead against world No 4 Wang.

But Wang, the losing finalist in Athens, reined in the world number eight to edge the first game and then got his menacing top-spin backhand going, clinching the rubber 12-10 11-4 11-4 with a fierce forehand that Ryu could only sky in return.

''This is the fifth time I've met Ryu since Athens and I've won them all,'' said Wang. ''But this is the Asian Games so it's more important.'' SLOW START Ma also started slowly against the experienced 29-year-old Oh and was quickly a game down.

Gradually his serve came together to allow his aggressive game to flow and, barring a blip in game four that let the world number seven force a decider, he emerged with the 8-11 11-6 11-6 5-11 11-3 win.

''His matches with Oh are always close,'' said Liu. ''Ma's getting better at controlling the game in the key stages and that's what he did today.'' Chen's tantrum after a defeat to Wang earlier this year led to an apology on national television and a week's ''re-education'' on a Chinese farm but there never looked like being cause for a similar outburst in his match with Joo Se-hyuk.

The lefthander, ranked sixth in the world, whipped through the first two games and fended of a desperate rearguard action from the Korean, sealing his victory when Joo went long.

Earlier today, Wang Nan, Guo Yan and Guo Yue blanked Singapore 3-0 to win the women's team title for China.

''This time we were able to fulfil a wish,'' said the experienced Wang. ''Even though, compared to the Olympic Games, the Asian Games is not that important -- for us to win tonight is still very meaningful.'' REUTERS PB BST0014