A Chinese trio led by current world number one Wang Hao are
poised for honors at the men's World Cup table tennis tournament
which starts in Barcelona on Friday.
Wang Hao, the winner of the men's singles title at the Pro Tour
Grand Finals in December 2006, was listed as the top seed while his
compatriots Wang Liqin and Ma Lin followed to fill in the top three
spots in seedings.
Drawn to separate groups, they avoided battling with each other
in early stage, which almost guaranteed their places in
quarterfinals.
Wang Hao's clash with arch-rival and Olympic champion Ryu Seung
Min, however, will highlight group A which also includes Chuan
Chih-Yuan from Chinese Taipei.
Wang lost to the South Korean in the final of Athens Games in
2004 but won all the other of their 13 meetings in the world
ranking events at senior level.
Ma Lin will have to compete with South Korean Joo Se-Hyuk for a
group B top finish on his way to a record fifth World Cup
title.
The berths from Group C are surely reserved for the reigning
world champion Wang Liqin and Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus, twice
champion for the World Cup.
Potentially, Germany's Timo Boll could be European greatest
threat to Chinese supremacy in Barcelona.
The fourth-seeded won the men's World Cup in 2002 and 2005,
beating Wang Liqin, Ma Lin and Wang Hao on the latter occasion.
However, he withdrew from the World Team Cup in Magdeburg a week
ago through illness and his preparations for the Barcelona
tournament might have been hampered.
Meanwhile, the South Korean contingent could well have a bearing
with Oh Sang Eun joining Ryu and Joo on duty. Oh was well below his
best form in Magdeburg but he still has the technique and
experience to challenge Boll in group D.
Play starts on Friday with matches in the group stage and the
eight players who finish first and second in each group advance to
the knock-out stage with the losing semi-finalists competing for
the bronze medal.
(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2007)