China wary of Germany in table tennis

Dortmund (Germany), March 27 (IANS) Chinese men's team coach Liu Guoliang expects a tough fight from hosts Germany in the World Team Table Tennis Championships.

Liu hopes it would be a China-Germany title clash, Xinhua reported.

After the Chinese men's team second win Monday, Liu said: 'I noticed that the German team is quite fit now. Especially, because they are hosts, they have more energy to win.'

Liu recalled the 2006 edition in Bremen, Germany, when the hosts beat powerhouse China to win the men's world championship title.

'But it was a 3-1 match, I mean, it was a tough game, it was really hard for us to win the last game. If you compare that German team, you will find this time they are much stronger.

'Six years ago, they didn't have Dimitrij Ovtcharov, but now, I think that Ovtcharov is the second best European player after Timo Boll,' Liu said.

'I heard around 11 thousand tickets have been sold, and I know most spectators will cheer for the German team,' Liu said.

'However, I think that could also encourage the Chinese players to give their best performance.

'If the Chinese team could meet German team in the final, that will be very interesting.

'I hope both sides can try their best to bring a wonderful match, that will be good to the development of table tennis,' Liu said.