60 People, 60 Stories

Chinese paradise

By Gennaro Bozza (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-30 11:07

Every year, in China, there are the true World Championships of table tennis. It happens with the National Championships or, once every four years, the National Games.

In comparison, the World Championships are like soda water in front of champagne. So anyone who loves this sport and wishes to enjoy the best show ever must come to China, this time to Qingdao.

Little by little, unfortunately, the world of table tennis has changed in last 10 years. Until 2000, there was the chance of a challenge between Europe and China, with other strong countries like South Korea being able to beat, sometimes, both the European and Chinese. Now, except South Korea, no one can hope to win. All the old Western champions have disappeared and there are no new ones. The results of the last Olympics and World Championships are clear: The Chinese dragons won everything - more than everything.

The only chance for the opponents of China to win something is make some strange rules, like those in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. That time, there was this unbelievable and crazy rule: In the doubles event, the two doubles team of the same nation had to stay in the same side of the draw.

In this way, China could not have two couples in the final, one of them could not have hoped to have the gold or silver medal, only bronze. It is against all the principles of sport, but it shows the way the Western countries want to beat China.

So there is only one chance to enter in the paradise of table tennis: Go to the Chinese National Games and National Championships. That is what I have been doing since 1996.

This is not only the 60th year of the People's Republic of China: It is also the 50th anniversary of the first world title for China in table tennis.

Gennaro Bozza is a journalist with Gazzetta dello Sport, the first sport newspaper in Italy and Europe.