DAILY REPORT : BARCELONA ’92 OLYMPICS / DAY 13 : WATER POL0 : Goalie Wilson Has 16 Saves, Leads U.S. Over Germany, 7-2

Goaltender Craig Wilson saved the U.S. medal hopes in water polo Thursday. Wilson, of Davis, Calif., had 16 saves as the United States used a tight defense to beat Germany, 7-2, and advance to the medal round.

The Americans will play Spain or Italy in the semifinals Saturday.

Two of Wilson’s saves were on point-blank shots.

“Some days they feel like golf balls,” he said. “Today was a beach-ball day.”

An 8-5 defeat by the Commonwealth of Independent States on Wednesday meant the United States needed to do no worse than a tie against the Germans to reach the semifinals.

“We came out today with our game faces on,” said team captain Terry Schroeder of Agoura Hills.

Said Wilson: “We had a team meeting last night, and we basically just started from scratch. We knew we had to win. It was in the back of our minds. But we came out pretty relaxed and we were a lot looser.”

The United States led at halftime, 3-0, on two goals by Erich Fischer of Reedley, Calif., and one by Jeff Campbell of Irvine.

“A big defense, that was the key today,” Charlie Harris of Indian Wells said. “We got ahead by a couple of goals, and then we could really pack our zone in and let Craig do his job.

“They took a lot of outside shots, and they had no chance on him. He just smothered everything.”

The Germans had 26 shots. Davis has saves on 61 of 85 shots in his five Olympic games.

“You get used to him playing fantastically,” U.S. Coach Bill Barnett said. “Sometimes you take him for granted. I would rank this game right up there near the top of his efforts.”

Alex Rousseau of Santa Monica scored two goals in the second half.

CANOE / KAYAK

Barton Continues to Roll, Advances to Two More Finals

In the flatwater competition at Castelldefels, American Greg Barton, who won two gold medals in the 1988 Olympics, moved into the finals in both the singles and pairs in the 1,000-meter kayak.

Barton, of Bellingham, Wash., won his heat in the 1,000-meter single kayak with the second-fastest time overall, and he and Norman Bellingham of Washington, D.C., advanced to the final round in the 1,000-meter kayak pairs, finishing second in their heat with the third-fastest time overall. They are seeking to become the first to repeat as gold medalists in the event.

“I was a little disappointed Tuesday when I had to go through the repechages (second-chance round), but today both races went down with no problems,” Barton said. “I’m looking for medals in both events. I know it will take the race of my life to win the gold in either one of them, but that’s what I’m shooting for.”

On Wednesday, Bellingham advanced to the final in 500-meter single kayak.

Six U.S. boats are in the finals, putting the Americans in position for their best Olympic showing in canoeing and kayaking.

The 1,000-meter kayak fours squad of Chris Barlow of San Diego, Mike Herbert of Rogers, Ark., Terry Kent of Tacoma, Wash., and Mark Hamilton of Louisville, Ky., finished third in its heat with the third-fastest time overall.

The men’s 500-meter kayak pairs team advanced to the final on Wednesday. The women’s 500 kayak fours advanced directly to the final in the preliminaries earlier in the week.

TABLE TENNIS

Waldner Wins Gold Medal

Jan Ove Waldner, a two-time world champion, gave Sweden its first gold medal of the Olympics by beating Jean Philippe Gatien of France in men’s table tennis, 21-10, 21-18, 25-23.

Kim Taek Soo of South Korea and Ma Wenge of China won the bronze medals, as they had at the World Championships last year.

Waldner won the first game easily, but the next two were close. Gatien led, 14-10, in the final game, but Waldner won the next six points, then fought off repeated challenges.

Waldner, 26, won the world title in 1989 and 1990 before losing it to Swedish teammate Jorgen Persson last year. Persson lost to Wenge in the Olympic quarterfinals.

Waldner was the first non-Chinese to win a gold medal in table tennis at Barcelona. China had won in women’s singles and doubles and men’s doubles after taking two of four titles in 1988.

Lu Lin and Wang Tao won the men’s doubles. Deng Yaping and Qiao Hong took the women’s doubles, then Deng beat Qiao in the women’s singles finals.

Waldner’s most effective weapon was his serve, which Gatien at times found impossible to return.

“In a word, it was horrible,” said Gatien who en route to the final had beaten South Korean Yoo Nam Kyu, gold medalist when table tennis made its debut as a medal sport at the Seoul Olympics.

FIELD HOCKEY

Australian Women Finish 5th

Australia defeated the Netherlands, 2-0, for fifth place in women’s field hockey, and Canada finished seventh with a 2-0 victory over New Zealand.

Spain will play Germany today for the gold medal, and Britain and South Korea will play for the bronze.

In the men’s competition, Australia will play Germany for the gold medal Saturday, and the Netherlands will play Pakistan for the bronze.

MEDALISTS

TABLE TENNIS

(Men’s Singles)

GOLD: Jan Ove Waldner (Sweden)

SILVER: Jean Philippe Gatien (France)

BRONZE: (tie) Kim Taek Soo (South Korea)

BRONZE: Ma Wenge (China)