South Korea outplayed Hong Kong of China 3-0 in the men's table tennis team semifinals of the Asian Games on Saturday, setting up a title clash with world champion China.

 

Cheung Yuk should have sent Hong Kong to a flying start, winning the first set of the opening game against Oh Sang Eun and leading 2-1 after the third set. But his momentum was just gone inthe last two sets, losing the game 3-2 (9-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9).

 

Leading 9-8 in the fifth set, Cheung granted Oh a 9-9 tie with a mistake and then lost a rally to get himself 9-10 down before losing the decider.

 

Olympic champion Ryu Seung Min put South Korea two up by beating Li Ching 3-2 (4-11, 13-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-9) and Lee Jung Woo crushed Leung Chu Yan 4-1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8) in the third game.

 

Sunday's final will see the fourth straight championship clash between China and South Korea. China had won the previous three encounters in 1994, 1998 and 2002.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 3, 2006)