Table tennis: Slice of history for Li

Li Chunli on Tuesday became the first New Zealand table tennis player to qualify for the main draw at an Olympic Games.

The Chinese-born professional made light work of her Chilean opponent, Berta Rodriguez Olate, cruising to a 21-7, 21-4, 21-13 win and finishing top in her pool to advance to the knockout phase of the competition at Sydney's State Sports Centre.

Li, who began her first pool match tentatively, was fired up from the start and her all-round superiority enabled her to set herself up for some devastating smashes.

Rodriguez Olate looked nervous in the first two sets but decided she might as well let rip early in the third set and she twice drew level at 4-4 and 5-5, but Li was quickly in control again.

"Today I tried much harder because the singles is the only event I have left," said Li, who with sister Karen was eliminated from the doubles on Monday.

Li served a couple of aces, rare at this level of table tennis, when she caught the Chilean off guard.

"One ball - nobody at home," Li joked.

She had noticed that Rodriguez Olate did not receive service well on her backhand, so she stood ready to hit a forehand from her backhand side. Li served some long serves to her backhand and some fast balls to her forehand, so her opponent did not know where the serve was going.

With the Chilean stuck in the middle, Li served the ball to her backhand and often the ball returned quite high for Li to smash back the next one.

Li, who represented New Zealand at the Barcelona and Atlanta Olympics, was elated at having got past the qualifying competition for the first time.

Earlier on Tuesday former Aucklander Peter Jackson was beaten in a clinical display by Petr Korbel, of the Czech Republic.

Korbel, a semifinalist at the Atlanta Olympics, combined brilliant back-court defence with sound strategy against his taller opponent, often firing the ball straight at Jackson's body.

The 11-21, 13-21, 15-21 loss was Jackson's second in straight sets, so his third Olympic campaign is over, while Korbel goes through to the knockout competition.

"Korbel is a world-class player and he was in top form. He just didn't make any mistakes," New Zealand team manager Murray Finch said.

"I watched him in training before the match and he looked really sharp, and he turned that form through to the match itself.

"Peter played really well, I thought, but just wasn't good enough."

- NZPA