Chinese players Ma Lin and Chen Qi beat Danish Michael Maze and Finn Tugwell 4-2 to enter the men's doubles final in the table tennis tournament of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games Friday.

In a fairly equal and extremely tense match which saw a 2-2 draw in the first four sets, Ma and Chen came back from 6-9 down to win the fifth 13-11 and also take the sixth by the same score.

"It was very important that we won the fifth game to regain a lead in the match," Ma said after the match. "However, I could have played better in the second game when we had four set points in hand."

The Chinese pair was 10-6 ahead in the second game but finally lost it 10-12.

"It was really a tough match, and I'm glad that we are the winners," said Liu Guoliang, coach of the Chinese men's team.

"My players were playing under great pressure as they were the only Chinese pair left in the semifinals," Liu explained. " Meanwhile, the Danish pair, whom my players had never met before, also played unexpectedly well today."

The Chinese, who had seized all golds for men's doubles since table tennis became an official Olympic event in Seoul 1988, were prevented from buying a "double insurance" for the doubles title here in Athens as the new ITTF (international table tennis federation) Olympic draw rules stipulate players from the same association be drawn to the same half.

And their hope for an all-Chinese semifinal match was also strangled by Swedish veterans Jan-Ove Waldner and Jorgen Persson in the last 16 playoffs Wednesday, as the Swedes disqualified the other Chinese pair Kong Linghui and Wang Hao 4-1.

"For us it was just like we had played the semifinal matches earlier than scheduled, and now Ma and Chen had to shoulder the grave responsibility all alone," said Chinese head coach Cai Zhenhua after Kong/Wang's loss.

In the final match scheduled for Saturday afternoon Athens time, Ma and Chen will take on Chinese Hong Kong paddlers Li Ching and Ko Lai Chak, who defeated Russian pair Dimitrij Mazunov/Alexei Smirnov 4-2 in the other semifinal match Thursday.

"Ma and Chen had played them (the Chinese Hong Kong players) three or four times before, and had beaten them every time," said Liu Guoliang.

The Danish pair, who outclassed the Swedes 4-1 in Thursday's quarterfinals, were very disappointed after their loss.

"I feel terrible," said Tugwell. "We had a very good chance to win the match, especially when we were leading 9-6 in the fifth game, but we missed some easy points."

However, he also conceded that the Chinese played quite well and were "perhaps a bit stronger than us".

Now the Danish pair had targeted the bronze medal for the doubles, which would be the first Olympic table tennis medal for their country.

"It would be very disappointing if you win the fourth place at the Olympic Games, because they only give three medals," said Tugwell, who and his partner lost in the last 16 playoffs in Sydney 2000.