The all-conquering Chinese table tennis team is making a statement in its bid to sweep all the gold medals at the Beijing Olympics by dominating the World Team Championships in Guangzhou.
China, winner of both men's and women's events at the last Worlds in Bremen, Germany, in 2006, has yet to lose this week.
China's Chen Qi (R) and Ma Lin watch the match between Hong Kong's Li Ching and Singapore's Gao Ning during the men's preliminaries of the World Team Table Tennis Championships in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou February 27, 2008. [Agencies] |
The men's team beat Russia, Belgium, Italy, Croatia and Romania in the group stage as the women's side beat the US, Sweden, Croatia, North Korea and Russia. Wang Nan was the only Chinese player to lose a match.
The country's Olympic roster will be released once the tournament concludes. Officials said it's been a timely rehearsal for the Beijing Games.
"No matter how many world titles we have won, the Olympics is our ultimate goal," Liu Fengyan, director of the Table Tennis Administrative Center, told Sohu.com. "We will make sure the Olympic players we select are the best in the team, we have to make sure they are not only the most skillful but also solid and without any injury.
"So we watch closely how our players perform at the Worlds in Guangzhou. It is a great test for them."
Only three players are allowed on each team at the Olympics. Wang Hao/Ma Lin of the men's team and Guo Yue/Zhang Yining from the women's side, China's two best doubles teams, have confirmed their participation.
The third spots on both sides are the only X-factors.
"It's not an easy job to pick our Olympic players because we have so many World champions on the team," said Liu Fengyan. "People have very high expectations for us, so we have to be as cautious as we can in naming the roster."
Though yet to be announced, state media report the most likely picks are world No 1 Wang Liqin and veteran Wang Nan.
Bouncing back
The 29-year-old Wang Liqin bounced back from a difficult 2007, a year in which he failed to collect a single trophy at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Opens for the first time in his 10-year career.
But the current world No 3 seems to have regained his form, winning the in-team competition at the winter training camp in Beijing.
"I am happy to see him play so hard in the Worlds this time," said head coach Liu Guoliang. "He had his best winter training camp of his career. I have never seen him work his head off like this.
