China's table tennis boss Liu asks for patience for Olympians to be 100% in shape

NANYANG, China - Liu Guoliang, president of the Chinese table tennis association (CTTA) said he's satisfied despite three out of the total five events not being won by the first-choice Olympic-bound players as China's Olympic simulation ended here on Sunday.

Among the six members of the Chinese squad for Tokyo 2020, table tennis Grand Slam winner Ma Long and reigning world champion Liu Shiwen suffered early exits in the men's and women's singles quarterfinals respectively.

Chen Meng, the top-ranked female paddler in the world, was beaten in the women's singles final and Sun Yingsha was shown the door earlier in the semis, both losing to Olympic substitute Wang Manyu.

In doubles play, Xu Xin/Liu Shiwen, the sole mixed doubles pair to represent China in the upcoming Olympics, missed their chance to lift the trophy after surrendering to 21-year-old duo Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha in seven full sets, while Liu Shiwen/Chen Meng were beaten by Sun Yingsha/Wang Manyu in the women's doubles final.

Men's World No. 1 Fan Zhendong was the only Olympian who lived up to his reputation, being crowned in the men's singles after beating another Olympic men's team member Xu Xin 4-3 in Sunday evening's final and finishing runner-up in the men's doubles partnering Wang Chuqin.

Ma Long and Xu Xin came out the men's doubles eventual champions, as the men's and women's doubles events in Nanyang, using the Olympic team events format, featured just four pairs each, half of them being the Olympic-bound paddlers.

"I'm actually quite satisfied with the results and process of the tournament simulating Olympic competitions here," said Liu Guoliang, a Grand Slam winner himself before turning into a decorated coach and a senior official in both Chinese and world table tennis.

"It's not rare in the all-time leading Chinese team that an established paddler needs to play 110% of his or her normal level against an upbeat youngster, especially when the Olympics has been delayed for one year due to the pandemic, giving the younger generation time to grow stronger.

"In my opinion, it's a good thing to spot errors or weakness from the Olympians days before the grand event gets underway. It will help us better plan the following training and make more specific plans in preparations for the Games.

"Also, we are just happy that the younger players have been strong enough to challenge the current top-ranked ones. I believe they'll be ready for the next Olympic circle as soon as possible," he added.

Talking about the goals set for the Tokyo Olympic Games table tennis competition, Liu said that the Chinese team is confident to take three out of five gold medals on offer, with an eye on a clean sweep.

He declined to specify which three events the team is definitely sure of winning, but asked for time and space for the Olympic squad to tune up in their own way.

China has collected 28 out of 32 gold medals on offer since the sport debuted at the Olympics in 1988, including three straight clean sweeps in the recent Games since 2008.