体坛英语新闻：China's top seeded paddler calm, focused ahead of competition

LONDON, July 23 (Xinhua) -- China's top seeded table tennis player Zhang Jike said he needs to stay absolutely focused during the games given the smaller size of the Olympic competition venue in London.

"The venue is smaller. It's different from other venues in height and space. It seems the balls move faster here. I need to be more focused during competition," Zhang said, after having his second training in the table tennis arena at ExCeL Center in east London.

Chinese players had had a four-day training in Leeds before moving back to London. The players have started training at ExCeL since Sunday. The gigantic building was an exhibition and conference center which was first opened in 2000. The 6,000-seat table tennis arena, built within one of the center's empty exhibition halls, was completed within two months.

A right handed dynamic attacker, the 24-year-old Zhang is the world championships and World Cup winner in 2011. He is widely seen as a gold medal favorite for the London Olympic men's title.

He will face strong competition from his teammate, twice Olympic silver medalist Wang Hao. Both of them are thirsty for an Olympic gold medal in order to complete a "Grand Slam" of major titles, which would place them within the league of such legendary players as Jan-Ove Waldner and Liu Guoliang.

Asked whether he was excited about his Olympic debut and life in the Olympic village, a smiling Zhang said: "I'm here for competition not sightseeing. I'm totally focused on competition."

Head coach of China's men's table tennis team Liu Guoliang brushed off the effect of the venue size at ExCeL. "At smaller venues, balls move faster and are more powerful. It's easier for players to perform their best."

"Normally, competition venues cannot be too big. Wind speed and sound of the balls will be different in big venues. The sound and speed of balls at this venue (ExCeL) is similar to the sound at our training venues," he said.

"As a matter of fact, whether a competition venue is good or not totally depends on players' feelings and their level of play. If they play well at a venue, they may think the venue is the best," he said.

Commenting on the players' training, Liu said they were very focused. "They've got used to the venue and the training is better than we expected," he said.

Table tennis was introduced at the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games. China has dominated the game, winning 41 Olympic medals, including 20 of the 24 available gold.

The only Olympic gold medalist from outside Asia is Sweden's Jan-Ove Waldner, who won the men's singles at the Barcelona 1992 Games.