Chinese table tennis Olympic simulation to resume next week

BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Olympic-bound paddlers are set to undergo another round of tests after the organizers announced Thursday that the second stop of table tennis Olympic simulations will be staged in Nanyang, China, between May 26 and 30.

Apart from warming up for the Olympics, the simulation competition offers the chance to qualify for other tournaments, including the WTT (World Table Tennis) Grand Smashes and the World Championships in Houston. It is also the first public event since the world's table tennis powerhouse announced its Olympic squad.

Aimed at Olympic preparation, the upcoming competition is designed to add men's and women's doubles in its calendar, as the two categories are quite crucial in the Olympic team event.

Men's and women's singles participants are the top 16 finishers at the last stop in Xinxiang, also in Henan Province.

Qin Zhijian, secretary-general of the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) and head coach of the men's national team, said this stop was about testing the mentality of the players.

"As this has been the first public competition since our Olympic squad was announced, how about our Olympic participants' mentality and technical shape? All of these require tests through matches," said Qin.

The competition's mixed doubles, an added event at the Tokyo Olympic Games, features 12 pairs and is divided into two phases. In the group stage, the 12 pairs are placed in two groups, with the top four of each group advancing. Then the last eight will adopt a knockout format to decide the winner. Group matches will be played in best of three, while the knockout stage will adopt a best-of-seven format.

Four men's and four women's pairs have been confirmed for the doubles events in Nanyang in a best-of-five format.

According to Li Sun, Qin's counterpart in the women's team, as the Olympic squad has been confirmed, the competition will become more specific, whether in doubles or singles events, and the coaching group will isolate problems with the Olympic participants by inflicting more difficulties on them.

Earlier in May, underdog Zhou Qihao stunned Grand Slam winner Ma Long and world No. 1 Fan Zhendong to take the men's crown, while world's top-ranked Chen Meng lived up to her status by coming out as the winner in the women's event. The mixed doubles title went to Ma Te and Liu Fei.

Zhou and Chen have earned their places representing China in the WTT Grand Smashes. After the Nanyang stop, leaders in the men's and women's singles rankings will qualify for the World Championships, and players bound for the WTT Grand Smashes will also be confirmed.

The Chinese team announced its Olympic squad on May 16. Ma Long and Fan Zhendong will play the men's singles matches, and they are joined by Xu Xin in the team event. In the women's side, Chen Meng and Sun Yingsha will participate in the singles event, and they form the Chinese team together with reigning world champion Liu Shiwen. Xu and Liu will pair up for the mixed doubles event.

China has collected 28 Olympic golds from table tennis, which debuted at the Olympics in 1988.