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TABLE TENNIS: China stars gear up for pre-Olympics blitz

GUANGZHOU: China’s all-conquering army of stars are determined to blitz the field at the world team table tennis championships as they gear up for the Olympics on home turf.

With six months to go until the Games, China are eyeing the championships starting here Sunday as the last major warm-up before Beijing where they plan a clean-sweep of the table tennis gold medals. But Guangzhou is also set to be a battleground for two of China’s top paddlers in the men’s and women’s teams – Wang Liqin and Wang Nan – still desperately seeking Olympics selection. China is so dominant in the sport that reigning world men’s singles champion and world number three Wang Liqin is in danger of missing out on an Olympics berth. While team-mates Wang Hao and Ma Lin, as world numbers one and two respectively, have been guaranteed places, Wang must produce here before battling through a qualifier in Hong Kong next month to secure a coveted third spot.

China men’s head coach Liu Guoliang stressed this week the importance of a strong performance in Guangzhou, warning “only the fittest goes to the Olympic Games.” Wang, the oldest member of the team at 29, acknowledged that he was feeling the pressure. “The youngsters are getting better and I don’t have a clear edge over them,” he told Titan sports weekly. Liu however predicated Wang, who has suffered a string of defeats to team mates in recent months, would mount a comeback here. “Wang Liqin has now recognised he isn’t superior to his team mates despite the billing as a world singles champion,” he told China’s Xinhua news agency. “I believe he will rebound in these championships.”

Liu is uncompromising, mindful of the below-par performance of his charges at the last Olympics in Athens where they failed to win the men’s singles gold. South Korean Ryu Seung Min snatched the Olympic crown from China, and the world number eight is hoping again to be a thorn in their side in Guangzhou. China also faces stiff competition from European stars Vladimir Samsonov, a three time European champion from Belarus, and veteran Werner Schlager from Austria, the 2003 title holder at the world individual championships. While the Europeans will challenge hard, China, unbeaten since 2000 and with 15 team titles in total, are almost certain of holding them off to retain the championship.

The Red Army also boasts Ma Lin, a four time World Cup champion, Ma Long and Olympic doubles gold medallist Chen Qi. The home team’s chances have also been boosted after German prodigy Timo Boll, considered one of the few Europeans capable of derailing the Chinese juggernaut, pulled out. The world number five and current European champion announced he was resting an inflamed knee. China’s women, led by Olympic gold medallist Zhang Yining and world champion Guo Yue, appear equally unstoppable. With 16 world team titles under their belts and unbeaten since 1991, China are expected to swat the competition.

All eyes will be on veteran Wang Nan, who like Wang Liqin, must impress here before next month battling in Hong Kong for one of only 11 remaining Asian spots up for grabs at the Olympics. But Wang, also 29, and one of the sport’s most decorated paddlers with three Olympic gold medals, appeared to be taking it all in her stride. “For now I just want to play well at the world championships. I don’t want to think about anything else,” the world number four said. Twenty-four countries, each with five team members, are competing in four groups in the week-long men’s and women’s championships here. The first placed teams in each group qualify for the quarter-finals, while the teams placed second and third will battle it out for the remaining spots in the last eight. afp

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