BEIJING -- The fire-damaged table tennis venue for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games has completed construction on schedule and will host two test events next week, said organizers here on Monday.
An exterior view of the newly built Beijing University Gymnasium, the venue for table tennis events for the 2008 Olympic Games, in this photo taken December 2, 2007. The Gymnasium, which is located east of a traditional Chinese courtyard house built during the Ming Dynasty, is the world's first gym specially designed for table tennis competitions. [Xinhua] |
"The construction of Beijing University Gymnasium is finished, and checked and accepted by Beijing 2008 Project Construction Headquarters Office last Wednesday," Zhang Yan, Chief Director to the stadium's Olympic functioning team, told a press conference.
"Next week, the gymnasium will hold its first competition, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) ProTour Finals, which will be followed by the 2007 International Table Tennis Invitational Tournament. Both are 'Good Luck Beijing' events," he added.
The annual ITTF ProTour Finals, which played 11 editions since 1996, including 6 in China and 2 in Beijing, will run on December 13-16, featuring top 16 singles and top 8 doubles paddlers, men and women, from the ProTour rankings after 17 stops in this year.
Reigning world number ones Ma Lin and Guo Yue, both from China, lead field of the year-ending tournament, which is regarded a high-level international event only next to the table tennis competitions of Olympic Games, the world championships and World Cup.
Results of the Finals will immediately impact the first edition world rankings of year 2008, top 20 of which will earn direct berths to the Beijing Olympics with no more than two players from a same association, according to the ITTF.
The rules up mentioned make the Finals a foreseeable fiercely fought event with competitions not only between associations but also between teammates.
Following the Finals, an invitational team event will test the stadium on December18-19 as next year' s Olympic Games will play men's and women's team events in stead of the doubles as the former ones.
Beijing University Gymnasium, the first-ever professional table tennis venue used in Olympic Games, caught fire on July 2 and raised concerns about delays to the construction schedule.
The fire incident, triggered by improper practice, however, was later proved to have minimal impact on the main construction of the gym, and no sign and trace of the fire can be found.
Located in northwest Beijing, the domed 26,900-square-meter gymnasium is one of the 12 new venues being built for next year's Olympic Games. Upon completion, the gym will be able to hold 8,000 spectators.
