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World table tennis championships open in Yokohama
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-28 17:24

YOKOHAMA -- The world table tennis championships opened Tuesday night in Yokohama with one and only mystery waiting to be solved: Will all-mighty Chinese take it easy on their rivals.

World table tennis championships open in Yokohama
Players compete in the women's singles qualification during the World Table Tennis Championships in Yokohama April 28, 2009. [Agencies] 

China, which clean-swept gold medals in the 2008 Olympic Games and the last two championships, pulled three versatile players off the doubles events, deliberately making the Yokohama championships more open.

Wang Liqin, Ma Lin and Zhang Yining, who have involved in nine doubles titles in the world championships, won't enter the doubles competitions and will concentrate on the singles events instead.

Cai Zhenhua, newly elected Chinese table tennis chief, said China has the responsibility to make table tennis a more popular sport.

"We have reached the top of table tennis in the 2008 Olympic Games, and now we should share the International Table Tennis Federation's responsibility to make the game more popular and spectacular," he said.

Huang Biao, head of the Chinese team, admitted that the absence of three doubles experts will "open a door" for young Chinese players as well as their rivals.

Chinese stars like Wang Hao, Ma Long, Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia have opted out of the mixed doubles event, too, making Hao Shuai and Chang Chenchen the highest seeded Chinese pair at sixth.

Timo Boll, a major threat to Chinese dominance in the world championships, has withdrawn from the sport's top event with a back injury.  Also out is 2003 world champion Werner Schlager of Austria who pulled out for family reasons.

The absence of Boll means that China's Wang Liqin, the defending men's singles champion and three-time winner of the title, moves into the fourth seeded spot vacated by Boll.

Chinese compatriots, Wang Hao, Ma Lin and Ma Long take the respective top three seeded places.

In the women's singles event, China also provides the top four seeded places in the guise of Zhang Yining, Guo Yue, Li Xiaoxia and Guo Yan.

A total of 104 associations will be represented in Yokohama with 306 players competing in the men's singles event, 209 in the women's singles while in the doubles events, the men's doubles sees 124 pairs, the women's doubles 79 pairs and the mixed doubles 175 pairs.

The championships will see a bunch of puffing and huffing oldies.

Chen Yinghua, a former Chinese national team member who plays for the United States, is the oldest participant at 51.

"I came here to learn and to show it's never too old to play table tennis. Seriously," he said.

Even though the sport requires reflexes, agility, power and speed, those no longer as quick about court as before believe they can catch up with the young through their experiences.

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