I don't think so. They surrendered. Their match against South Korea was much better.
I think you're confusing the lack of talent with the lack of resolve. No on would want to surrender an Olympic Gold medal(not to mention an additional reward money of 750K) when U made the finals. Something you are unlikely to do again in another 4 yrs. The PRC team was just too good. Our record against them, in fact, every freaking team in the world's record against them is lousy. They're just simply too good, not to mention all of them are top 5 ranking players. Our "Best" player is ranked lower then their "Worst" player
Top 10 ranked players
1. Zhang Yining, China
2. Guo Yue, China
3. Li Xiaoxia, China
4. Guo Yan, China
5. Wang Nan, China
6. Li Jia Wei, Singapore
7. Wang Yue Gu, Singapore
8. Jiang Huajun, Hong Kong
9. Feng Tianwei, Singapore
10. Tie Yana, Hong Kong
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On a side note, most teams would look good against Korea coz they play a slightly more defensive style. I've seem 3 games they played and they play more defensively then the other teams. It doesn't mean they're lousy, its just a different style of play