Coach Liu not bothered with draw for the worlds

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, January 20, 2004

Coach Liu not bothered with draw for the worlds

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Liu Guoliang, head coach of the Chinese table tennis men's team, said Monday that defending champion China is determined to reclaim the title no matter what draw was made and what new rules are to be adopted for this year's world championships.

"It will be harder for us to defend the title, but we are readyto face anything possible in the worlds," said Liu. As a former world number one, Liu has won a "grand slam" of men's singles titles -- Olympics, world championships and World Cup tournament.

Top-seeded China was drawn into Group A, together with South Korea, Austria, France, Japan and Italy, of the Men's ChampionshipDivision, at Saturday's draw in Doha, Qatar.

Chinese Taipei, the second seed with Chuan Chih-Yuan and ChiangPeng-Lung in the line up, will face fourth-seeded Sweden in Group B as well as Germany, Hong Kong, Russia and Belgium.

Liu reckoned that every team in the worlds is strong. "The newregulations including 11-point system and no hidden serves, give much bigger chances to underdogs to upset the world's best players.Nothing is absolutely sure in the games, so we have to depend on strength of ourselves, not on an easy draw," he said.

"It's always a fair game. If the new regulations make it harder for us (to win), it's equally harder for anyone else as well," said Liu.

The Chinese men's and women's teams took the titles in Osaka 2001 and are also the favorites in Doha.

Third-seeded South Korea has called up Kim Taek Soo, who had seven match points in Osaka but lost to China's Liu Guozheng in the final, and added another top player, Joo Se Hyuk to its team. Joo reached the final in the men's singles at last year's individual world championships in Paris.

Sweden could be another title contender if Jan-Ove Waldner has found his form. Jorgen Persson and Peter Karlsson had solid performances in 2003 and Jens Lundqvist shocked everybody by beating world No. 1 Ma Lin and No. 2 Wang Liqin of China at the ITTF Pro Tour Finals in December last year.

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