The Table Tennis Mixed Team World Cup is coming to an end, and it saddens us greatly. We never thought we would say this one day during a ping competition.
France restores the image of table tennis
The progress of the Blues in this Top 8 is astonishing. Four matches, four defeats, and not the closest we have known: 8-3 against Romania, 8-3 against Japan, 8-4 against Germany and 8-1 against South Korea. So before challenging the Chinese ogre, who is at home in Chengdu, we might as well tell you that our confidence was overflowing like never before.
And the duel proved us right, once again. Against China, it's simple, the Blues neither won the match nor the slightest set. An 8-0 defeat with all the panache that that requires. How can we not be proud of our Blues after a fifth setback in as many matches?
But let's not get excited, we must not look away from the real objective, as we have repeated all week; it's last place in the Top 8 or nothing. Only France and the USA have so far performed flawlessly, and can dream of a zero point. The Americans certainly have a significant advantage in goal average (-42 against -30 for us), but the duel between the two nations today should deliver the outcome that the whole world is waiting for.
France
