China's domination leaves others thinking

OSAKA, MAY 7. The table tennis world was packing up its paddles and heading home on Monday, but as one team prepared for a triumphant return the rest were left in no doubt they had some serious work to do.

China completely dominated the 46th World championships in Osaka, winning every title and more than half of all the medals on offer.

Already feted as national heroes after their similar clean sweep of the Sydney Olympic titles last year, the Chinese team were returning to ``lots of flowers and applause'' as women's star and triple title-winner Wang Nan put it.

However the other countries left with the harsh words of International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) president Adham Sharara ringing in their ears.

In a scathing assessment, Sharara warned bluntly the game would become 'boring' if China continued to win everything, and effectively accused many non-Chinese players of being unfit, unprepared and unprofessional.

Rejecting calls for China to perhaps be forced to limit the number of players it entered, he instead challenged the rest of the table tennis world to ``take the sport more seriously''.

Sharara has spearheaded a series of sweeping reforms designed to slow down play, lengthen rallies, and generally make table tennis more attractive for that Holy Grail of all modern sport, television coverage.

The ITTF has even asked clothing firms to consider making less 'formal' outfits for the female players in an attempt to bring more glamour to the game. But Sharara is aware all this could go to waste if the viewing public decides it does not want to watch a sport in which the nationality of the winners is all but pre- ordained.

After the president's tirade on the last day of the two-week championships, not all players necessarily agreed with his diagnosis. Belgium's Jean-Michel Saive, who led his nation to an unprecedented silver medal in the men's team event, said China's domination was ``quite normal as China is a big nation and table tennis is a big deal.''

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Section  : Sport
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