Olympic final rematch to kick off table tennis year-ending event

BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- World No. 1 Wang Hao has been handed the toughest draw on Wednesday and will kick off the ITTF ProTour Finals with an Olympic final rematch, while the sole German duo here appointed a first-round encounter against each other.

Wang, who overran fellow Chinese Ma Lin in October to reign the world rankings, was just seeded the second in the table tennis year-ending event with a less glorious Pro Tour standing, and was drawn against Olympic gold medalist Ryu Seung Min after the South Korean being in low in 2007.

The 24-year-old Wang, however, declined to blame the tough draw and showed a positive mood ahead of the tournament, also a "Good Luck Beijing " Olympic test event, to be held in Beijing University Gymnasium on Dec. 13-16.

"I've met Ryu for so many times and there's no secret between us," said Wang, who came out the sole Chinese loser in the Olympic table tennis tournament three years ago in Athens after the surprising 4-0 defeat to Ryu.

"He's an aggressive attacker and always keeps in high mood and good shape, especially in some important matches," added the Chinese. "But I'm definitely the better one between the two of us."

Established European paddlers Timo Boll of Germany and Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus are the main rivals for Chinese players, besides Ryu, according to Wang, though Boll will have to beat compatriot Dimitrij Ovtcharov before reaching the quarterfinals to face the winner between top seed Ma Lin and Japanese Kan Yo.

Paddlers from the hosts China have dominated the 16-man list with world champion Wang Liqin, teenage sensation Ma Long and national recruiters Hao Shuai, Chen Qi also making the squad.

On the women's part, the nightmare for Japanese talent Ai Fukuhara began from the moment when she drew into the second position to play reigning world champion Guo Yue in the first round. The 19-year-old star paddler could not help screaming after seeing the number on the lottery ball.

As the sport is well received among table tennis fans, tickets for the evening session of December 16, the final day of the tournament, have been sold out, as announced by the BJG venue operation team on Wednesday.

The annual ITTF ProTour Finals, a high-level international event only next to the table tennis competitions of Olympic Games, the world championships and World Cup, have played 11 editions since 1996, including 6 in China and 2 in Beijing and feature top 16 singles and top 8 doubles paddlers, men and women, from the ProTour rankings after 17 stops in this year.

Results of the Finals will have an immediate impact on the first edition world rankings of year 2008, top 20 of which will earn direct berths to the Beijing Olympics with no more than two players from a same association, according to the ITTF.

The Beijing University Gymnasium, which had caught fire on July 2 but completed construction on schedule earlier this month, is one of the sites for next year's Beijing Olympic Games and the first ever professional table tennis venue used in Olympic Games.