Chuang Chih-yuan: Taiwan Table Tennis Hero

We watched Wang Hao (王皓) of China (above) take out Taiwan's Chuang Chih-yuan (莊智淵) in the Olympic semifinals for men's singles in table tennis tonight. It was the furthest a Taiwanese male has ever advanced in Olympic table tennis competition. He's still up for the bronze medal against Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov tomorrow. 

Chuang won the first game and was up double break in the third game, but couldn't hold on. We had the feeling if he had taken that one, the outcome would have been in Chuang's favor. The final result was 11-9, 2-11, 9-11, 6-11 and 9-11. 

The Chinese coach probably burnt more calories than Wang, putting on a Diego Maradona-esque display. He was constantly out of his chair to cheer, which was entertaining. He also clapped for Chuang on good points and was humble in victory. 

My wife was a bit put off by the commentary though, especially when Chuang was described as a lightweight fighting a heavyweight. She said it was rude. I saw it more as "you can only find so many things to say about table tennis."