Saive Says Rules Changes Can't Change China's Dominance

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, May 24, 2003

Saive Says Rules Changes Can't Change China's Dominance

Belgian top table tennis player SaiveJean-Michel on Friday expressed his belief that the Chinese dominance in this sport remains unshakable despite a string of changes in rules.

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Belgian top table tennis player SaiveJean-Michel on Friday expressed his belief that the Chinese dominance in this sport remains unshakable despite a string of changes in rules.

He said that it is hard for other countries to compete against China no matter how the rules might change.

"In China everyone plays table tennis. It (table tennis) is a culture there," he said. "It is logical that China is better than the other countries."

In recent years, the International Table Tennis Federation has introduced a bigger ball for competition and the scoring system was changed from 21 to 11 points. The ITTF also ruled that the service should not be hidden from umpire.

It is expected that the bigger ball would be in favor of the power game of the European players, while the shortened game might give lowly players more chances to upset the elite.

Saive said that he knew China had attempted to restore the old 21-point format but there was no necessity of concern.

"They are afraid that the new system will have more surprises, but there are also more surprises for me and everybody else. "

And it is much easier for Chinese team to adapt to the new rules because they are "ten or twelve years younger "than him, added the 34-year-old.

Saive lost to 25-year-old Wang Hao from China in the 1/16 finals on Thursday. He attributed the loss to his physical fatigue at the end of the match.

"I have to play a doubles match in the morning. I don't have enough time to recover from the game." he said.

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