Chinese Women Display Dominance

Uganda’s Nadunga Kyakobye drew the short straw in Olympic table tennis, becoming the first woman to face the brutal power of Chinese world singles champion Deng Yaping.

Kyakobye is the current world champion in both women’s singles and doubles and the 1992 gold medalist at Barcelona. With her trademark fast start, Deng stormed to an 8-0 lead in the first game. She took the match handily, 21-4, 21-8.

Qiao Hong, Deng’s partner in the champion world doubles pairings, beat Uganda’s Mary Musoke, 21-10, 21-4. Liu Wei, the world’s fourth-ranked player, was equally merciless against Chile’s Berta Rodriguez Olate, winning, 21-4, 21-12.

One of the few players seen as having a chance against Beijing’s powerful women in Atlanta is Taiwan’s Chen Jing, ranked No. 3.

A former Chinese player herself before moving to Taiwan, Chen defeated Lebanon’s Larissa Chouaib, 21-5, 21-6.

Amy Feng, one of the top U.S. hopes for women’s singles, defeated Valentina Popova of Slovakia, 22-20, 21-12.