Qualifying not as simple as 1, 2, 3

In China, sports like diving, table tennis, shooting, weightlifting and judo are often in the limelight not only because they produce the most gold medals for the country, but also because of their sometimes subjective selection process for the final Olympic lists.

Unlike many other countries, which rely on the rules of world governing bodies or domestic trials to determine who goes to the Games, China considers more than just an athlete's performance at international competitions, domestic qualifiers and daily sessions. Officials also factor in an athlete's mental toughness and other abstract qualities that are hard to measure objectively.

Take diving for example. With so many high-quality athletes, China is always hard-pressed to choose the "best" 10 divers from a group of world-class candidates with almost indistinguishable skill levels.

Domestic Olympic qualifiers ended late last month, but China's complicated standards mean results alone are not enough to secure an Olympic berth. Team officials will also take into consideration athletes' "fighting spirit" and "mental quality" before deciding on the final list, which adds a frustrating level of uncertainty to the process.

Recent reports have raised concerns that the uncertainty will negatively affect the team's preparation. Some suggest that subjectivity from officials will stymie athletes' real abilities, saying qualifying competitions are just meaningless procedures since chief officials already have their athletes in mind.

The same story plays out in sports like weightlifting and cycling due to the conflict between a limited number of Olympic spots and a glut of qualified athletes.

According to the International Weightlifting Federation, athletes who gain enough points at specified international competitions qualify for the Beijing Games, though every association is only allowed a maximum of five female and four male athletes.

With so many qualified athletes, especially in women's events, too many Chinese have made the cut, leaving officials with the final decision about who goes and who stays home.

Fair and public process

Liu Peng, minister of China's State General Administration of Sport, has made it clear that the selection of Olympic athletes must be a fair and public process.

"We have to strictly abide by the rules and procedures to select the athletes with the best skills, form, and mental quality," Liu said. "We will not allow any kind of individual interest or behind-the-curtain deal to affect the selection."

Selections for judo, shooting and archery have a more straightforward process. These sports' governing bodies in China have set up domestic qualifiers based on a points system. An athlete scores points for results in qualifiers and certain international competitions. Athletes then qualify according to their overall point rankings.

"The point system is open and clear to every body. And we also send different players to compete in international competitions in order to give every one of them the same chance," said Song Zhaonian, deputy director of the sport's governing body.

"All the domestic qualifiers have finished and we will add the points to those from the international competitions. Our aim is to select the best athletes to compete in Beijing."

But these sports are so competitive that some star athletes have failed to qualify.

In archery, for example, national champion Yong Fujun and veteran He Ying, who helped China win the women's team silver medal in Athens, did not perform well and fell short of the points needed for a chance at the Olympics on home soil.

A similar fate befell Barcelona Olympic skeet-shooting champion Zhang Shan and Sydney Olympic 10m air rifle winner Tao Lunan, as both were passed over this year after being leapfrogged by teammates in the ranking.

"In shooting, there is no room for excuses of fellowship or other interests to win an Olympic ticket. We will strictly rely on the point rankings," head coach Wang Yifu said.

"Our women's team is pretty strong and has so many excellent players. It's a pity some of them will miss the chance but I believe whoever goes to the Olympics has a very good chance of winning a medal or even a gold medal."

World rankings

The decision is much easier for table tennis and tennis.

In table tennis, all six of China's Olympic tickets - three men, three women - have been decided thanks to a relatively simple qualification standard.

ITTF rules allow every association to send three men and three women.

The top-20 ranked players in the world over the past year earn direct berths to Beijing, though no more than two players from one association can be chosen on ranking alone. An association's third ticket is determined after the region's qualifier.

Women's players Zhang Yining and Guo Yue and men's duo Ma Lin and Wang Hao have a firm grip on the world's top two rankings. It then boiled down to who could get through the Asian qualifiers.

Veterans Wang Liqin and Wang Nan, known as the big brother and big sister of Chinese table tennis, eventually came out the winners for their third Olympic appearances.

In tennis, ITF says the maximum number of players allowed per country is six men and six women, of which four of each may compete in individual events, and a maximum of two doubles pairs may compete in doubles events.

Forty-eight singles players will directly qualify, as will the top-10 doubles, based on the official world rankings of June 9, 2008. Any player who qualifies for the singles event will automatically be eligible for entry in the doubles event.

This means all of China's best tennis players will likely qualify as long as they stay consistent before the final world rankings are released.

(China Daily 04/04/2008 page23)