Injured volleyball aces come back to boost China's Olympic chances

SHAOXING - Olympic champions China's defending chances were given a major boost as injury-battered women's volleyball players Zhao Ruirui and Feng Kun enjoyed a brisk workout in the ongoing friendly series against Cuba.

Feng Kun(L) and Zhao Ruirui [File photo]

The skillful middle blocker Zhao, once playing a crucial part in head coach Chen Zhonghe's side, suffered too many setbacks in her fragile knees around the 2004 Athens Games and was forced out of action for almost four years.

While captain and setter Feng, also coming off a knee injury, has been sidelined for almost a year following surgery in 2007.

The duet, together with Yang Hao, Zhou Suhong, Liu Ya'nan and Zhang Na, are the only players in the current team with Olympic experience.

"I feel relieved to see them fully fit again and back to my squad," said Chen before the six-game friendly series began in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian province on February 24.

"Feng and Zhao recovered well from the surgeries. Feng is able to play 80 percent of her champion-winning level and Zhao at 90 percent.

However, their form demonstrated in the matches gave a lot more convincing evidence on their fitness than in Chen's words.

Both players featured in the starting lineup of each game thus far. The 1.97-meter Zhao now is the team's leading scorer averaging 10.7 points in the first four legs of the series, causing trouble in Cuba's strong defense while Feng is getting involved in the team's offense, creating more chances for the spikers.

"After missing the 2007 season, I have to inspire chemistry with my teammates match after match, it takes time but I think I have improved a lot in the winter training camp," said Feng here on Saturday.

"We have bad fortunes in 2006 and 2007, so the team is determined to make a fresh start this year and get the defense of its Olympic crown back on track," added Feng. "I believe in myself and my team."

After leading the team to its first Olympic title in Athens after 20 years, the ever- smiling Chen was troubled by the team's injuries, resulting in a slump in form over the past few years.

The team conceded a string of losses to lowly ranked teams and finished in a remote fifth place in 2006 world championships before losing the Asian championships trophy the following year.

The team has just finished a behind-door training camp for the Beijing Olympics in August, and the six-game series, slated for February 24 to March 2 in six different cities in southeast China's Fujian province and east China's Zhejiang province, were the first formal occasion in which the Olympic champions demonstrated their prep work.

To shape up the possible Olympic squad, Chen fielded Zhao and Feng in the starting lineup in all matches thus far.

"Although Zhao did not play for a long time, I won't keep her on the bench as I want to test her and give more motivation to her by sending her onto the court," said Chen, who has been holding the helm of the team for seven years.

It looked more decisive for the Chinese team to have the 26-year-old Zhao back in squad.

The baby-faced girl was injured in a match prior to the 2004 Olympic Games.

Her injury became even worse in her first Olympic match against the United States, and Zhao was then sidelined from the rest of the matches in Athens, where the Chinese women's volleyball team re-claimed the Olympic title after a 20-year wait.

"I have never imagined that I was able to play this well after four years' suspension," she said.

"I still need time to get to know my teammates and the way the team plays. After such a long time, I don't have to hurry, just feeling relaxed and getting used to playing on the court," Zhao added.

Zhao and Feng will both have to spend time getting to know the new faces on the team.

"Zhao played a good match, especially in smashing and blocking, "Chen said of his favorite after the game four of the friendly series, "but there are problems on teamwork. We recruited many new faces in the side and definitely they need time and competition to know them better and get involved in the team."

"I hope they can adjust to their best form as soon as possible. Both players are still the best in China. I am looking forward to seeing them play again at the Beijing Olympic Games."

Currently there are a total of 19 players in the Chinese side out of which only 12 can make the final roster for the Beijing Olympics.

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China wins women's title at table tennis worlds

GUANGZHOU -- China on Saturday moved closer to taking a clean sweep of the golds at the world team table tennis championships, after winning the women's title with a 3-1 victory over Singapore.

It was the 17th world title, or the eighth consecutive, for the Chinese women who had not been beaten in the team championships since losing to a unified Korean team in 1991.

China's star-studded women, boasting the world's top five players, viewed the championships in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou as a warm-up for the Beijing Olympics starting in August.

They steamrolled over all before them and lost only two individual matches throughout the whole competition that lasted a week.

"Our players did as well as usual but there are some details to be improved," China's head coach Shi Zhihao said. "I hope people have noticed that a lot of foreign players posed a threat to us."

"Don't expect Chinese players to win every single match, and the charming of sports is uncertainty."

China failed to seize a lead at the beginning of the final against Singapore as reigning world champion Guo Yue trailed all the way to lose to eighth-ranked Li Jia Wei.

In the group play, China's Grand Slam veteran Wang Nan also suffered a shock defeat to a much lower ranked DPR Korean player.

But the 29-year-old veteran displayed extraordinary sangfroid afterwards though she was under pressure competing with teammate Li Xiaoxia for the only remaining berth at the Beijing Olympics.

World number one Zhang Yining, singles winner in Athens, and reigning world champion Guo Yue have qualified for the Games automatically.

Wang's performance culminated in the final when she crushed the highest-ranked non-Chinese paddler Wang Yue Gu of Singapore 11-5, 11-5 and11-4. Li, the veteran's only roadblock to the Olympics, was resting aside.

"To survive in the Chinese team, you must live with pressure," Wang told reporters. "My goal is to take part in the Beijing Olympics and win a gold medal," she said.

Singapore displayed stunning performance with dominant victories over European opponents, finishing much higher compared with the last worlds in Bremen.

Both China's Hong Kong, the runners-up in the last worlds, and Japan were third-place finishers.

Singapore's defeat to China was not beyond the expectation of the city-state's head coach Liu Guodong, who said that there was still a large gap between his team and the world's best players.

"The silver medal boosted our confidence, but we should never overestimate ourselves," he said in a modest tone

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Triple Olympic champion Henry to miss Beijing Games

CANBERRA -- Australia's triple Olympic gold medallist Jodie Henry announced on Friday that injury will prevent her from competing at the 2008 Beijing Games but it won't end her swimming career.

The former 100m freestyle world record holder officially withdrew from next month's Olympic selection trial in Sydney, after succumbing to a pelvic complaint that has hampered her preparations.

"It has been a very hard decision to make as the Olympics is every swimmer's goal and I would have loved to be able to go to Beijing and try and defend my (100m freestyle) title and to help the girls win another relay," the Australian Associated Press quoted Henry as saying in Brisbane in east Australia.

"I have been struggling with an injury which has meant that I haven't been able to train as much as I would have liked, and as much as I have needed to, to be ready for the Olympic trials.

"Whilst missing the Olympic team is a huge disappointment for me, I am pleased because now that my injury has been finally diagnosed I can start the road to recovery," she said.

Swimmers must compete at the cut-throat selection meet in order to qualify for the Australian Olympic swim team and Henry said her injury meant she would not be sufficiently prepared.

Henry made clear her intentions to return to the pool as soon as possible.

"I am happy to say that I am definitely not retiring as there is no way that I want my swimming career to end like this," Henry said.

Henry's absence will be a major blow to Australia's defence of the women's 4x100m relay title in China.

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Artists of Cirque du Soleil perform in Budapest

Artists of Cirque du Soleil perform during the 'Delirium' segment in Budapest February 29, 2008.

Artists of Cirque du Soleil perform during the 'Delirium' segment in Budapest February 29, 2008.

Artists of Cirque du Soleil perform during the 'Delirium' segment in Budapest February 29, 2008।

An artist of Cirque du Soleil performs during the 'Delirium' segement in Budapest 29 February, 2008।

Artists of Cirque du Soleil perform during the 'Delirium' segment in Budapest February 29, 2008


An artist of Cirque du Soleil performs during the 'Delirium' segment in Budapest February 29, 2008। [Agencies]

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Bullfight in southern Spain

Spanish matador Jose Maria Manzanares prepares to performs a pass to a bull during a bullfight in Coliseo de Atarfe bullring in Atarfe, near Granada, southern Spain February 28, 2008।

Spanish matador Jose Maria Manzanares performs a pass to a bull during a bullfight in Coliseo de Atarfe bullring in Atarfe, near Granada, southern Spain February 28, 2008।

Spanish matador Jose Maria Manzanares prepares to performs a pass to a bull during a bullfight in Coliseo de Atarfe bullring in Atarfe, near Granada, southern Spain February 28, 2008।

Spanish matador Enrique Ponce performs a pass to a bull during a bullfight in Coliseo de Atarfe bullring in Atarfe, near Granada, southern Spain February 28, 2008।


Spanish matador Enrique Ponce prepares to perform a pass to a bull during a bullfight in Coliseo de Atarfe bullring in Atarfe, near Granada, February 28, 2008। [Agencies]

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'Surreal Things' exhibit at Guggenheim Museum

Spanish artist Salvador Dali's "Retrospective woman's bust" is exhibited on the opening day of "Surreal Things", a 250-piece art exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, February 28, 2008. The exhibition, organized with London's Victoria and Albert museum, deals with Surrealist objects and their relationship with commercial design.
Spanish artist Salvador Dali's "Mae West lips sofa" is reflected in a mirror on the opening day of "Surreal Things", a 250-piece art exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao February 28, 2008. The exhibition, organized with the Victoria and Albert museum in London, deals with Surrealist objects and their relationship with commercial design.
A woman reads the exhibit information next to a display case on the opening day of "Surreal Things", a 250-piece art exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao February 28, 2008. The exhibition, organized with London's Victoria and Albert museum, deals with Surrealist objects and their relationship with commercial design.
A bust by Surrealist artist Man Ray is exhibited on the opening day of "Surreal Things", a 250-piece art exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao February 28, 2008. The exhibition, organized with London's Victoria and Albert museum, deals with Surrealist objects and their relationship with commercial design.
Spanish artist Salvador Dali's 1936 "Venus de Milo with Drawers" is exhibited on the opening day of "Surreal Things", a 250-piece art exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao February 28, 2008. The exhibition, organized with London's Victoria and Albert museum, deals with Surrealist objects and their relationship with commercial design. [Agencies]
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Beijing's Metro Line 10 welcomes its first passengers

Mrs Zhang is very much looking forward to the opening of Beijing's new Line 10 metro route. On Friday, the 72-year-old was buffeted and bashed as she tried to get on a bus at Guomao, where she had been visiting her son at his office.

She wanted to get to Shuangjing, she said, but the crowds were so big and boisterous, she kept getting pushed to the back of the queue.

However, she knows that when the new Line 10 opens, her journey will be a lot less stressful.

"I really wish I could take the subway. It's faster and less painful," she said, doing her best to avoid the crowds and passing buses.

Scheduled to open in June, Line 10 will provide a high-speed link for commuters - and their elderly relatives - between Bagou in the west and Jinsong in the south.

On Friday afternoon, Zhou Zhengyu, deputy director of the Beijing municipal committee of communications, joined a group of journalists to try out the new route.

The 15.5-billion-yuan ($2.18 billion), 25-km line, along with two other routes linking the airport and the Olympic Green, will open in June, once testing has been completed - just in time for the millions of Olympic visitors, he said.

"But we won't slow down our construction plans once the Games have finished," Zhou told China Daily inside one of the line's new carriages.

"In fact, we will accelerate our development plans to provide an even better service for the people of Beijing."

Since the opening of Line 5 in October, the number of passengers using the subway has risen by more than a third, he said.

By 2015, Beijing's metro will stretch more than 561 km and feature 420 stations, Zhou said.

The existing network spans 155 km and has 93 stations, with the cost to develop each additional kilometer averaging out at about 500 million yuan, Liu Hongtao, a senior official with the Beijing railway transportation construction corporation, said.

He told China Daily the massive infrastructure project was already progressing well.

"Three lines are close to completion, one is under construction, and ground has been broken at six others," he said.

"The total cost of all the extra lines will be something like 200 billion yuan by 2015," he said.

"The government's usual annual budget for public transport is about 1 billion yuan," Zhou, who will be in charge of public transport in Beijing for the next five years, said.

Wang Hailong, who has worked as a taxi driver in the capital for the past five years is not worried about the metro taking away his business.

"The new subway does us little harm," he said. "And it will certainly ease the pain of millions of people who now travel by bus."


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Farmer artist paints for the Olympics

One of farmer artist Ma Zengfu's paintings called "Girl in Water Town" is displayed in Ma's home in Qingguang Town, Tianjin Municipality on February 28, 2008. Ma was commissioned to create 80 paintings which will be presented to foreign visitors during the Beijing Olympics.
One of farmer artist Ma Zengfu's art works entitled "Panda Acrobatics" is displayed in Ma's home in Qingguang Town, Tianjin Municipality on February 28, 2008. Ma was commissioned to create 80 paintings which will be presented to foreign visitors during the Beijing Olympics
Farmer artist Ma Zengfu (C) shows his paintings to guests in his home in Qingguang Town, Tianjin Municipality on February 28, 2008. Ma was commissioned to create 80 paintings which will be presented to foreign visitors during the Beijing Olympics.
Farmer artist Ma Zengfu works on one of his Olympics-themed paintings in his home in Qingguang Town, Tianjin Municipality, February 28, 2008. Ma was commissioned to create 80 paintings which will be presented to foreign visitors during the Beijing Olympics.[Xinhua]
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Italian Olympic Athletes to Use Ferrari-Designed Equipment


Successes at Ferrari had prompted the Italian Olympic Committee to seek a fast partnership with the Maranello-based company. The agreement would see CONI, the Italian Olympic Committee, pair up with Luca di Montezemolo’s outfit in producing better, faster, stronger athletes for the next two Olympics.

Ferrari would essentially help develop hi-tech equipment for such disciplines as skeleton, canoeing, sailing, paralympic skiing, bobsled and luge.

"We want to be as fast as a Ferrari in Beijing," CONI president Giovanni Petrucci said.

Di Montezemolo echoed his sentiments: "There are three things we have in common: passion, the ability to work as a team and the Italian flag," he said. "If there is even one-thousandth of Ferrari in Italian victories, we'll be honored."

If this works out for both entities we may see the likes of McLaren, Renault and RBR teaming up with their own Olympic committees seeking wins। What’s uncertain is if a losing F1 team would automatically bring down its associated Olympic team.
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Olympic hopeful Liu has low expectations for indoors

BEIJING, Feb 28 - China's Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang has enjoyed his "best ever" winter training regime but is not expecting too much from next week's World Indoor Championships in Spain, his coach said on Thursday. The 110 metres hurdles world champion and world record holder remained focused on preparations for his Olympic title defence in Beijing in August and had done limited training on the 60 metres indoor event, according to Sun Haiping.
Sun Haiping (R), coach of Liu Xiang and Feng Shuyong (R2), head of China's Athletics Administration are at a press conference in Beijing on February 28, 2008. [Xinhua]

"We only hope Liu will improve his personal best, which is possible," Sun told a news conference.

"In the winter training camp, we put 60 percent attention on the preparation for outdoor competitions, mainly the Olympic Games, and 40 percent on the upcoming world indoor championships.

"We did not fully concentrate on the indoor session until last week."

The 24-year-old, whose personal best indoors is 7.42 seconds, will return to competition at the March 7-9 championships in Valencia, having skipped most of the indoor season.

"I'm fully confident with his outdoor performance this year," Sun added. "He will be even better than in previous years."

China was sending a squad of 11 athletes to Valencia for the indoor championships, said Feng Shuyong, head of China's Athletics Administration.

After returning from Spain, Liu will search for a training base with similar weather to Beijing and a track like the one in the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium, venue for the athletics at the August 8-24 Olympics.

"We do not have a home advantage in being able to train in the Bird's Nest ahead of others," Sun said.

Both Sun and Feng also spoke of the huge burden of expectation placed on Liu's shoulders as China's only real hope for a track gold medal in Beijing.

"There are certainly pressures," Sun said. "The only way to reduce pressures are to strengthen his ability and confidence through training and competition."

Feng asked the media not to let the expectations build too much.

"Liu Xiang is just a human being," he said. "He can't guarantee to win every competition but he will do his best."


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Beijing opens $3.6 billion air terminal

Updated: 2008-02-29


BEIJING - Beijing opened a huge new $3.6 billion, Norman Foster designed airport terminal on Friday ahead of the expected influx of millions more visitors coming to this summer's Olympic Games.

A view of the interior of Beijing International Airport's new terminal on the outskirts of Beijing February 28, 2008। In preparation for a passenger surge during the 2008 Olympics this August, the newly-built No.3 terminal building at the main airport in Beijing started operations on February 29, 2008. [Agencies]

The impressive new terminal's nearly 3-km (2-mile) long concourse, which is divided into three sections and connected by a shuttle train, will boost capacity at the airport to 76 million compared with the 52 million who used the airport last year.

Six airlines will use Terminal 3 initially, including Sichuan Airlines, Shandong Airlines, Qatar Airways, Qantas Airways , British Airways and El Al Israel Airlines .

More will move in from March 26, including Air China, Lufthansa , Singapore Airlines and other Star Alliance members, as well as Emirates and Air Canada .

The terminal is designed to look like a dragon, complete with triangular windows cut into the ceiling as though they were scales.

A train will zip people downtown in just under a quarter of an hour and the high-tech baggage system will handle 19,800 bags per hour.

The terminal also has special bridges to handle Airbus's giant double-decked A380.

It has almost double the number of boarding gates of the old terminals and nearly 300 check-in desks. The terminal has been build to maximise the use of natural light, with walls of glass.

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Hellenic Olympic Committee announces the High Priestess for the Lighting Ceremony

Maria Nafpliotou of Greece in this undated file photo। Maria, a renowned Greek actress and dancer, was designated a the High Priestess of the Lighting Ceremony for the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games.

ATHENS, Feb। 27 (Xinhua) -- The Plenary Session of the Hellenic Olympic Committee decided unanimously Wednesday that the High Priestess of the Lighting Ceremony for the Beijing Olympic Games will be the actress Maria Nafpliotou.

Nafpliotou is the 10th High Priestess in the history of the Olympic Flame and the 9th in the history of summer Olympic Games.

Nafpliotou got a diploma from the state affiliated professional dance school of Rallou Manou. She had also won a scholarship for the state school of Classical dance in Leningrad in the former Soviet Union.


Maria Nafpliotou of Greece in this undated file photo। Maria, a renowned Greek actress and dancer, was designated a the High Priestess of the Lighting Ceremony for the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games. (Xinhua Photo)


She started a very successful professional career as a dancer and theater, cinema and TV actress, earning positive comments both from the public and the critics.

From 1987, she was a core member of Rallou Manou's dance troupe "Elliniko Chorodrama." Her first performance on stage took place in winter 1999 with Greece's National Theater when she held the role of Katherine in Tennessee Williams' "Suddenly Last Summer".

She also took roles in many performance of Shakespeare drama with the National Theater of Greece.

She made her debut in the cinema with the Greek film "The Island". In 1996, she held the leading female role in Alexandros Papailiou's film "Niovi dances her life". In 2005, she got the best actress award in Cairo's International Film Festival for her role in Grigoris Karadinakis "Chariton's Choir" film.

Maria Nafpliotou is fluent in English, while literature, music, dance and cinema are her hobbies.

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Olympic promotional films set for TV, Internet debut

BEIJING -- Five short films about the preparation for the Beijing Olympic Games shot by world renowned directors will be broadcast by television stations in and out of China as from Thursday.

The five films will be shown on China Central Television as well as on Beijing TV, the national TV stations of Italy, France and Iran.

Meanwhile, sohu.com will put the films online for viewers across the world.

In July 2006, Beijing invited Giuseppe Tornatore from Italy, Majid Majidi from Iran, Patrice Leconte of France, Daryl Goodrich of Britain as well as Andrew Lau Wai Keung from Hong Kong to make a short film each telling stories concerning Chinese people's preparation for the August 8-24 Games.

As Tornatore's first trip to China, the Italian director made "Reunion", telling a story about how a group of students and their teacher got back together after 30 years.

It was also the first time Majidi had visited China. He chose his favorite subject, children. In "Colors Fly", Majidi focused on children looking forward to the Games.

Leconte was a stranger to Beijing too, but he was soon up to pace with his knowledge of the Chinese capital, and shot "Beijing -- A Film Impressionistic", in which he depicted Beijing through various structures including the Summer Palace and Olympic venues.

Having retired as an athlete, Goodrich found his career in a combination of sport and film-making. His five-minute film, entitled "Belief", focused on the hard work and thrill of athletic competition.

Hong Kong director Lau, the only Chinese director invited to the project, showed his love for Chinese food and culture in "Color, Fragrance, Taste Beijing".

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German douses China's diving dominance

German diver Sascha Klein secured a happy ending to his Cinderella story in the men's platform final Sunday at the FINA World Cup diving tournament, upsetting the usually dominant Chinese divers to take the title.

Klein relegated China's multiple World Cup event winner Zhou Lixin to second place in a back-and-forth battle with a stunning last dive that earned him a remarkable 108.3 points, the record for the night.

Zhou, the 2007 World Championships silver medalist, could not match the German's achievement despite trailing by just 0.15 points going into the last dive. American David Boudia came in third, pushing another Chinese diver Lin Yue, also a multiple World Cup event winner, into fourth.

It was the first major victory for the unknown German. It was quite a surprise for the diver who claimed he never looked at the scoreboard.

"It is so unexpected and I cannot believe it," Klein said. "It's hard to describe my feeling right now. It just feels really good."

It was indeed a welcome victory for the German, who has toiled in obscurity for the better part of his 15-year diving career. But beating the overwhelming Chinese favorites felt like redemption after all the years of struggle.


"Everyone can be good and you just need to believe it," Klein said.

The rest of the world has been seeking a way to challenge China's domination in diving for the past decade. Before yesterday's competitions, the Chinese had taken every title on offer.

But Klein seemed to find the key to beating Chinese divers - a brave heart, extremely difficult dives and error-free execution.

Klein, who qualified for the final as the third-place finisher, unveiled a routine with a total degree of difficulty of 21, the highest among final competitors and 0.9 higher than Zhou.

He surprised a skeptical crowd by executing near flawless dives from start to finish, scoring over 90 points on each of the six dives except the third. His routine included a dive rarely seen, his second one, in which he somersaulted forward four and half times.

"I have been trained with such difficulty for a long time," he said. "I used the second dive in the national competitions but never internationally.

"Tonight I just want to show the people that I can do that."

The strategy worked well, especially after Zhou managed to cut the gap to 0.15 points before the last dive.

But their final dives made the difference. Klein held his nerves to make an over-100-point dive. It all but decided the outcome because Zhou needed to score almost 110 points on a dive with a much lower difficulty level. Zhou's final dive only earned him 85 points.

"I just tried to not be nervous," Klein said. "I always try to give my best and I made it."

The Chinese divers bowed to the pressure that has been building since they lost the title at last year's World Championships. A similar story unfolded in the 2007 Melbourne tournament when a determined Russian diver, Gleb Galperin, defeated Zhou, again with a strong and difficult routine.

Chinese divers still managed to win the last event of the tournament yesterday when Wu Minxia and Guo Jingjing convincingly won the women's synchronized springboard.

China won a total of seven gold medals in the seven-day tournament, which was also as a test event for August's Beijing Olympics.

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Good Luck Beijing International Taekwondo Invite

Japan's Kengo Uchimura (L) fights Australia's Safwan Khalil in the men's 58kg of Good Luck Beijing 2008 International Taekwondo Invitational Tournament at the University of Science and Technology Beijing Gymnasium in Beijing February 26, 2008। The gymnasium will hold the judo and taekwondo events in the XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing in August.

Canada's Ivett Gonda (L) fights Venezuela's Gladys Guacare in the women's 49kg division of Good Luck Beijing 2008 International Taekwondo Invitational Tournament at the University of Science and Technology Beijing Gymnasium in Beijing February 26, 2008। The gymnasium will hold the judo and taekwondo events in the XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing in August.

Philippines John Paul Lizardo (R) fights Mexico's Rodolfo Osornio in the men's 58kg division of Good Luck Beijing 2008 International Taekwondo Invitational Tournament at the University of Science and Technology Beijing Gymnasium in Beijing February 26, 2008। The gymnasium will hold the judo and taekwondo events in the XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing in August.

China's Wu Jinhua (R) fights Brazil's Marcio Ferreira in the men's 58kg division of Good Luck Beijing 2008 International Taekwondo Invitational Tournament at the University of Science and Technology Beijing Gymnasium in Beijing February 26, 2008। The gymnasium will hold the judo and taekwondo events in the XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing in August.

Brazil's Marcio Ferreira fights China's Wu Jinhua (L) in the men's 58kg divison of Good Luck Beijing 2008 International Taekwondo Invitational Tournament at the University of Science and Technology Beijing Gymnasium in Beijing February 26, 2008. The gymnasium will hold the judo and taekwondo events in the XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing in August. [Agencies]
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Stars shine at Oscars red carpet


Actress Anne Hathaway arrives at the 80th annual Academy Awards, the Oscars, in Hollywood, February 24, 2008। (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Actress Jessica Alba poses on the red carpet as she arrives at the 80th annual Academy Awards, the Oscars, in Hollywood Feb. 24, 2008.


(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Olivia Thirlby, who stars in "Juno," arrives at the 80th annual Academy Awards, the Oscars, in Hollywood, February 24, 2008.
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China keep on winning while warned by upsets in table tennis worlds

China's Wang Nan returns the ball to Kim Jong of DPR Korea during a match of the women's team event between China and DPRK at the 49th World Table Tennis Championship in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, Feb। 25, 2008. China beat DRPK 3-1.


GUANGZHOU, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Sixteen-time champions, the Chinese women, have been handed a little surprise on Monday as formidable veteran Wang Nan suffered her first defeat against a non-Chinese paddler in a year here in day two competitions of the world team championship.

Wang was beaten 3-1 by much lower-ranked Kim Jong of DPR Korea, dubbed as the "Mysterious Troop" to world table tennis with few showups, before the Chinese team pulled themselves back to the winning track with points won by Zhang Yining and Li Xiaoxia.

The similar scene happened again late in the evening when the Chinese men's squad screamed an unexpected loss from triple world championship holder Wang Liqin, upset by untitled Romanian Andrei Filimon 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-7.

But Wang Liqin saved his pride with a second hit later against the rival side's top paddler Adrian Crisan, winning in straight sets 12-10, 11-2, 11-4 to wrap up the victory for China after ChenQi and Wang Hao both copped up with their fame.

China's Wang Liqin returns the ball to an opponent during a match against Romania at the 49th World Table Tennis Championship in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, Feb. 25, 2008


Things are not as easy to bear for the women's world No. 4 Wang Nan, however. The Sydney Olympic gold medalist, one of the sport's most decorated players with 20 world titles, was trailing from theright beginning against her southpaw opponent and lost the match 11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 13-11 to the 91st-ranked Kim.

"My adaptability was poor today and I failed to bring myself into full play. I give myself a zero score," said the 29-year-old Wang, a "Grand Slam" winner of Olympics, World Championships and World Cup, who has to give a better performance over younger teammate Li Xiaoxia to ensure a chance of getting an Olympic berth.

She managed a 8-2 advantage in the fourth set to keep her hope of comeback alive, but failed to hold on.

Zhang, also a "Grand Slam" winner who is ranked top on the latest world women's singles standings, met tough resistance from DPR Korea's top paddler fielded in the women's squad here, taking the long fought first set 16-14 and down the second 11-13 before wrapping up the following 11-7, 11-7 for a win.

Shi Zhihao, head coach of the Chinese women's team, refused to take the stumble of Wang Nan too seriously and said it could turn out to be a good thing rather than sorrow.

"DPR Korean players are well-trained and have a high morale," he said. "The fact that China suffered an impact is good for our players because it makes them understand that rivals have the ability to compete with us."

In the afternoon's third round match of the women's team Group A, China left out established Zhang and Wang when facing Croatia and enjoyed their lopsided match 3-0 as the Zagreb world championship's 1-2 finishers Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia teamed with former World Cup title holder Guo Yan to whitewash the European underdogs.

Other surprise of the day came from the Hong Kong women's team, who made a superb comeback from two points down with Tie Yana, Jiang Huajun and Lin Ling to let down the Austrians led by former European champ Liu Jia, who earlier suffered another defeat by Germany on Monday.

The round robin first stage of both the men's and women's events will continue for another round on Tuesday before the last 12 teams emerge from each of the four groups on Wednesday evening for the women's and late on Thursday for the men's. Only the 24 teams of the first division earn their way to the top trophy.


China's Guo Yue returns a ball to a Croatia's player during a match at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in China's southern city of Guangzhou Feb. 25, 2008.

China's Li Xiaoxia plays a serve to a player of Croatia during a match at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in China's southern city of Guangzhou Feb. 25, 2008.

China's Li Xiaoxia plays a serve to a player of Croatia during a match at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in China's southern city of Guangzhou Feb. 25, 2008.

China's Li Xiaoxia returns a ball during a match against Croatia at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in China's southern city of Guangzhou Feb. 25, 2008.

China's Guo Yan returns a ball to a Croatia's player during a match at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in China's southern city of Guangzhou Feb. 25, 2008.

China's Guo Yue returns a ball to a Croatia's player during a match at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in China's southern city of Guangzhou Feb. 25, 2008.

China's Wang Liqin reacts during a match against Romania at the 49th World Table Tennis Championship in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, Feb. 25, 2008.

China's Wang Nan reacts during her match against North Korea's Kim Jong in the women's preliminaries of the World Team Table Tennis Championships in China's southern city of Guangzhou Feb. 25, 2008

China's Wang Nan reacts after she lost the match against North Korea's Kim Jong in the women's preliminaries of the World Team Table Tennis Championships in China's southern city of Guangzhou Feb. 25, 2008.
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