German table tennis players are quite in mood for trying a podium finish at the Beijing Olympic Games after the men's and women's draw was made on Thursday.
"The men's team has been seeded second and may have a bigger chance than the women to seek a position in the medal list," said Dirk Schimmelpfennig, team director and head coach of German table tennis.
The German men sit in Group B as the second seed to avoid a round robin meet with the formidable Chinese and they will play against Singapore, Croatia and Canada, while their women's counterparts were drawn into Group C with Hong Kong of China, Poland and Romania.
"Whatever the draw is, the situation for us is the same," said Schimmelpfennig. "The most important for us now is to try to win the games starting against Croatia (men's team).
"We'll focus on both the men's and women's team, but maybe our men's players have a better chance. That doesn't mean we concentrate less on the women's team. We'll try to got the first or second place in the women's Group C."
According to the Olympic table tennis rules, the group winners qualify for the semifinals, with the group runners-up left a chance of vying for the bronze medal.
China, as top seed in both events, was drawn with Austria, Greece and Australia in the men's event and bundled with Austria, Croatia and the Dominican Republic in the women's.
(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2008)