 |
China Top Pick for Ping-pong
Chinese paddlers will be unbeatable in the 2000 Olympics, Adham Sharara, chairman of the International Table Tennis Federation, said during a recent visit to Beijing, according to Chinadaily.
"I think the favourites are still the Chinese,'' Sharara said when asked to make a prediction.
In the men's single, Sharara gave a high evaluation to Chinese hopefuls, and pointed out the difficulties facing the team.
"In the world championship last year and the year before the last, China had many candidates, but for each country in the Olympics, only three players are allowed in singles. So more danger looms -- if one loses, the other two will have to struggle.
"But the three Chinese are very high in terms of world ranking, all among the top five.
"So I still suppose that the Chinese have most of the chances,'' Sharara asserted.
Kong Linghui, ranked first in world competition, and Liu Guoliang, reigning world and Olympic singles champion, will serve as the backbone of the Chinese Olympic team.
The third player will be either Liu Guozheng or Ma Lin. The final listing will be announced later this week.
"From Europe, maybe we have (Vladimir) Samsonov. Maybe he can do well in the Olympic Games.
"Also there is opportunity left for Sweden and Chinese Taipei, especially Chiang Peng-lung from Taipei. He is very strong and maybe in the Olympics he can do a very good job.'' Sharara said.
As for the Swedes, in the past the team has not performed well but they have been gaining in strength, Sharara added.
In men's doubles, Sharara also picked the Chinese, because of two very good pairs, Liu Guoliang/Kong Linghui and Wang Liqin/Yan Sen.
"In Europe, Austria (Karl Jindrag/Werner Schlager), France (Christophe Legout/Patrick Chila)and Sweden (Jan-Ove Waldner/Jorgen Persson) each have a good pair.''
In the women's singles,he assured that the crown definitely belong to China, but favored South Korean women's doubles pair (Ryu Ji Hye/Lee Eun-Sil).
Chinese Wang Nan now leads the pack of world female contenders, with Li Ju following closely behind, but in doubles Wang Nan/Li Ju and Yang Ying/Sun Jin are not as dominant.
Addressing the controversial move to a larger playing ball, which has met tough opposition from quite a few players such as Jan-Ove Waldner, Sharara said: "Mr. Jan-Ove Waldner is now 35 years old and he has been playing 25 years. So it is very difficult to change.
"Waldner said in wake of the team world championships that 'the final match between Sweden and China was a very good match, why change the ball?' But in Kuala Lumpur we have more than 300 team contests, and maybe only two or three are good, so I think it is very important to change the ball.''
Sharara said after six months of experiment, the larger playing ball would not be a problem.
"By the time they get used to it, they will enjoy it because of the better TV coverage,'' he said.
Sharara explained that a bigger ball flies slower and spins less, more convenient for TV transmission.
"For Waldner, he will benefit a lot from the bigger ball, and maybe his career will be longer,'' Sharara said.
The ITTF voted in favour of the 40-millimeter ball after the world team championships last year.
The decision will take effect October 1, after the closing of the Sydney Olympic Games.
Sharara said 46 nations and regions from all continents have registered to participate in the Sydney Olympics.
The Chinese team are undergoing a closed-door training programme in Zhengding, Hebei Province.
In This Section
|