China

Thousands to play table tennis in Tian'anmen Square

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-01-23 13:06

BEIJING - Tian'anmen Square, the world's largest public square, may become the largest table tennis stadium, when 10,000 citizens turn out to play pingpong this summer.

As part of the capital's sixth sports festival, the municipal sports bureau has decided to hold a table tennis tournament at the square in June or July, Sun Kanglin, head of the bureau, said when he guested on a radio program on Monday. The event is expected to draw at least 10,000 citizens.

"We plan to hold 347 sports events this year and they are open to every citizen. But I think nothing is more exciting than playing pingpong at Tian'anmen Square," Sun was quoted by Tuesday's Beijing Daily Messenger.

Sun said his bureau is working on the specific agenda for the competition. To qualify to play at Tian'anmen Square, citizens will first have to win in a series of playoffs at the condominiums where they live.

Beijing is also planning to build new sport facilities this year, especially in its rural areas. According to Sun, 90 percent of the city's 3,947 villages will have sports facilities by the end of this year.

Table tennis, or pingpong in Chinese, is as popular in China as basketball in the United States. Chinese athletes have won more than 130 table tennis world championship medals since Rong Guotuan won the men's gold medal at the World Table Tennis Championships in 1959.