While the nation anticipates another ping-pong sweep at this year's Olympics, China's table tennis chief Liu Guoliang is already planning for life beyond the Games, setting his sights on 19-year-old Ma Long.
Ma continued to crank up the pressure on his veteran compatriots with a run of sparkling performances at the Singapore Open, the last international tournament before the Olympics.
The skinny kid from Liaoning province dominated the event that ended on Sunday, beating Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus 4-1 in the final. He also won 4-2 in the semifinals against Germany's Timo Boll, who is considered to be China's top European challenger.
Two weeks earlier, Ma outclassed world No 1 Ma Lin and No 2 Wang Hao en route to winning the Korea Open.
"He is a top candidate to be one of our leading player after the Olympics," Liu said after the Singapore Open on Sunday. "He is the most talented among our young players.
"The good thing is that Ma is just 19, and he has plenty of room to improve," Liu said. "He is our undisputed No 1 young player. We have put a lot of effort into him, knowing he could be the best in the world some day."
From Cai Zhenhua 20 years ago to Wang Hao and Wang Linqin today, China has boasted some of the best players in the world, and Ma Long has good reason to believe he can be next on the list of China's greats.
Blessed with flowing attacking strokes and an ice-cold mindset, Ma Long won his first international title just a couple months after joining the national team, beating then world No 1 Wang Liqin and No 2 Wang Hao to lift the trophy at the Kuwait Open in January last year.
"It is no surprise," Liu said. "The rising young players keep on putting a lot of pressure on the world title holders. That's a reason why China is so successful in the world of table tennis."
With titles won in both Korea and Singapore, Ma has moved past Wang Liqin to take the No 3 spot in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings.
Despite Ma's sizzling form, Wang Liqin, Wang Hao and Ma Lin are far more experienced and as such are all but assured Beijing Olympic spots. But Ma shouldn't have to wait long for his time to come, as local media predict he will be the No 1 player at the London Games in 2012.
"Ma Long's fast rise will make it difficult for the coach to choose an Olympic roster," Internet portal Sina.com said in a commentary.
"Ma has gained enough confidence in the past two months, but it would still be surprising if he made it to the Games this year."
With Ma leading the way, the Chinese team has performed well at ITTF tournaments over the past two months, winning 11 out of 12 titles in the past four events.
Ma Lin, who was considered to be China's No 1 singles player in August, beat Athens singles gold medalist Ryu Seung-min and Austrian Werner Schlager at the Japan Open in May, while Wang Hao pocketed victories over Ryu and Hong Kong's No 1 Li Ching at the Korea Open.
Wang Liqin has been the only disappointment, having not won a title in the past year and a half. The former world No 1 lost to world No 16 Cheung Yuk in the second round of the Singapore Open.
But Liu still has confidence in him.
"He has been in a tough position; he lost some games that he should have won," Liu said. "But I don't think it is as bad as fans say. He exposed some problems but we have time to deal with them because there are still some 50 days before the Games. He knows how to avoid such problems during the Olympics.
"He has what it takes to win an Olympic gold medal, for sure."
(China Daily June 11, 2008)