Taiwan's table tennis association protests incident in Macau

Taipei, April 19 (CNA) Taiwan's table tennis association has lodged a protest with the sport's world governing body over an incident that it believed caused Taiwan's Lin Yun-ju (林昀儒) to be knocked out of a World Cup tournament in Macau, it said Friday.

The incident happened on April 16 when the world No. 15 Lin faced German player Dimitrij Ovtcharov in a group stage event of the Table Tennis World Cup.

Lin was up 13-12 and one point away from defeating Ovtcharov in the fourth and final game of their match in Group 14 of the men's singles event when the venue's lighting suddenly changed color during a rally, prompting Lin to hit his shot wide.

He was allowed to replay the point by the referee, but went on to lose three straight points and the game 15-13.

By losing three of the four games in the match rather than splitting them, Lin finished second in Group 14 with a 5-3 record in games compared to 7-1 for Ovtcharov, and he failed to advance to the tournament's round of 16.

A split would have meant the two players would have had identical 6-2 records and the group's winner would have been decided by tiebreakers.

The Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) complained in its brief statement that the situation was unfair to Lin.

"During a decisive moment of the game, the venue's lighting suddenly malfunctioned, which severely affected [Lin's] emotions and disrupted the rhythm of the game, ultimately leading to a loss and failure to advance," it said.

Without elaborating, the CTTTA said it has sent a letter to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) to protest the incident.