Wang Liqin and Wang Nan,?two veterans of Chinese table tennis, have secured places in the team for their third Olympics through the Asian qualifiers in Hong Kong.
The experienced duo, both former Olympic gold medallists, completed the Chinese line-up of three men and three women for the table tennis event at the August 8-24 Beijing Games.
Sydney Olympic women's singles champion Wang Nan survived a 3-4 upset by former China international Dang Ye-seo, now representing South Korea, before crushing Hong Kong's Zhang Rui 4-0. She will compete in the Olympic singles competition along with Zhang Yining and Guo Yue, the world's two top-ranked players.
"I will be preparing for the Olympics with a brand new start," said 29-year-old Wang Nan, who has won three Olympic gold medals and 17 world titles.
Wang's coach Shi Zhihao said the defeat by Dang might turn out to be a positive experience.
"It's even better to lose since we could learn from it and discover more problems for the preparations for the Games," he said.
Three-time world champion Wang Liqin swept to six wins in a row to breeze through. The 29-year-old doubles gold medalist has yet to play in an Olympics singles final.
"It's nothing surprising," Wang Liqin told the Oriental Morning Post. "I've always believed I could do well in this tournament."
Ma Lin and Wang Hao have already qualified.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily March 11, 2008)