SPORTS> China
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SPORTS> China
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Chief: Paddle sweep a 'failure' for China
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-07 15:59
The sport's governing body, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), has moved to make the game more competitive in recent years by introducing larger, slower balls and also banning "speed glue", an adhesive that increases the elasticity of the paddle.
But nothing has been able to curb China's dominance. Cai, who also enjoyed a glittering career as a top player in the early 1980s, said the team's performance in Japan was something to be proud of. "The World Championships are the most watched event back in China. Everybody pays a lot of attention to them. Everything had already been decided ahead of the final day," he said, referring to the all-Chinese finals. "We had already fulfilled our job - a clean sweep of all the gold medals." Men's world No 1 Wang Hao and women's No 1 Zhang Yining beat defending champions Wang Liqin and Guo Yue in their respective finals to take the singles crowns. Wang Hao and Chen Qi won the men's doubles and Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia took the women's doubles, while Li Ping and Cao Zhen clinched the mixed doubles title. Cai said China had tried to give other teams a fighting chance by sending only newly paired couples to the mixed doubles, but all four semifinal places were taken by members of his team. China Daily/AFP
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