Ref-rage coach shown red card

Hong Kong coach Chan Kong-wah faces severe sanctions from the game's governing body after manhandling the tournament referee at the World Championships in Paris.

Chan, the three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, pushed and shoved Bernard Barbier of France after becoming incensed over a disputed call during a quarter-final involving doubles pair Cheung Yuk and Leung Chu-yan. The 43-year-old Chan had to be restrained by security staff at the Palais Omisports after Barbier waved a red card at him, then disqualified the players.

The flashpoint came during the seventh and decisive game of a match which could have guaranteed Hong Kong their first ever men's World Championship medal. During a rally against South Korea's Kim Taek-soo and Oh Sang-eun, Leung raised his hand to indicate the ball had hit Oh's hand. The play continued until a Korean shot missed the table, but Hungarian umpire Robert Szentgyorgyi awarded the point against Hong Kong, making the score 7-5 in the Koreans' favour.

'He always makes mistakes,' an unrepentant Chan said of Szentgyorgyi. 'I've known him a long time. He creates so many conflicts. The umpire said he gave the point to Korea because we stopped the game. It wasn't stopped. Our players just raised their hands. I said, 'OK, play a let', but Korea weren't satisfied.'

Chan's furious protestations earned him a red card from Barbier, who then disqualified the Hong Kong pair when it became apparent the Guangdong native was not going to let the match continue. 'I showed him a red card because he would not play on,' said the referee. 'After that, he became more aggressive and he touched and pushed me. I stopped the match. For me, they are disqualified.'

The Hong Kong team launched an appeal challenging the interpretation of the scoring laws. An International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) jury was due to meet this morning (Hong Kong time).