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Olympic champion leads dominant Chinese squad into table tennis worlds
2005-04-29
SHANGHAI, China - Olympic champion and world No. 1 Zhang Yining heads a dominant Chinese squad into the World Table Tennis Championships starting this weekend in Shanghai.Zhang, China's top female player, will be joined on the men's side by world No. 1 Wang Liqin, No. 2 Ma Lin and No. 3 Wang Hao. China's other leading women, world No. 2 Wang Nan and No. 3 Niu Jianfeng, round out the squad. Also in the hunt will be the men's singles Olympic gold medalist, Ryu Seung-min of South Korea, who is ranked sixth in the world, along with world No. 4 Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus and No. 5 Timo Boll of Germany. Other top women appearing are Tamaro Boros, the world No. 4 from Croatia, and No. 6 Li Jiawei of Singapore. Qualifying begins Saturday, with first round matches beginning Sunday evening. The finals are scheduled for Saturday, May 6. Along with overall team championships, players will compete for trophies in men's and women's singles and doubles as well as mixed doubles. The refurbished Shanghai Gymnasium is the venue for the 48th World Championships, which China is hosting for the third time. Table tennis was the first sport that China ever won a world championship in and it remains massively popular here. The sport is often referred to simply as ``national ball'' and its players' performance is taken so seriously that they are barred from having girlfriends or boyfriends during training. The championships are receiving massive publicity in Shanghai, China's commercial hub which is hosting a growing list of major international sporting events. Along with table tennis, the city is hosting a Moto GP motorcycle race and a co-sanctioned European-Asian Tour golf tournament over the weekend. Zhang and Wang led their teams to golf at the last World Championships in Doha, Qatar, last year. AP
China's women clinch 16th world table tennis title (2006-04-30)World No. 1 Zhang Yining left as sole Chinese in ProTour finals (2005-12-14)Olympic champion leads dominant Chinese squad into table tennis worlds (2005-04-29)China's Zhang Yining Wins Table Tennis (2004-08-22)Chinese Win Gold in Doubles Table Tennis (2004-08-20)
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