Kuwait Open gives a lesson to China's men's table tennis team

(BEIJING, March 17) -- The Chinese men's table tennis team suffered a setback in the Kuwait Open on Sunday after failing to pocket the men's singles gold amid high hopes ahead of the Olympic Games.

Chen Qi, a men's singles substitute at the Olympic Games in case of possible pull-outs, was demolished 0-4 in the final against veteran Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus.

The loss casts a shadow on the team's Olympic gold prospects.

China's former World No. 1 player Wang Liqin was defeated 3-4 by Christopher Legout of France in the second round of the tournament; China's World No. 2 lost 3-4 to chopper Joo Se-Hyuk of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in the quarter final; China's World No. 1 Wang Hao, who is viewed as the possible Olympic men's singles champion, was ousted 1-4 by Vladimir Samsonov in the semi final. China's younger paddlers Ma Long and Chen Qi were also demolished at the hands of Samsonov.

Rye Seung-min of ROK stunned the world by beating China's Wang Hao, who had beaten him in several times in a row before the 2004 Olympic final.