Table Tennis: Timo Boll’s Column  "Olympics in Beijing"

Issue No. 2, March 25, 2008

On March 7, my club Borussia Duesseldorf Club hosted the Belgian Charleroi club in the semi-final of the 1st leg of the European Table Tennis Champions League. I was together with my team, but not yet in action as I was still on the mend. To an athlete, nothing is worse than being sidelined due to injury. You can work hard to pick up your form, but have only a few options when troubled by injury. This time, unfortunately our club lost 1-3.

Nevertheless, I still need to thank those 4,000 Duesseldorf fans in the home stadium that night. They have good perception of table tennis. And they understood that my teammates OVTCHAROV, SUESS, and KORBEL spared no efforts in the match although they were not at their best as they just returned from the Guangzhou tournament. I feel really proud of so many fans’ support.

Generally, the Chinese league is more competitive than the Bundesliga. I am quite sure that in China, coaches are stricter with players and Chinese players have stronger desire for victory, which is very crucial in achieving success. If all the top European table tennis clubs could join in one single league, that might be a match for the Chinese Super League. In Germany, the professionalism of Borussia Duesseldorf is leading other clubs.

I have played in the Chinese league before. Of course I will never forget how popular the top players could be among the Chinese public - really amazing! What impressed me more are the Chinese people’s friendliness and players’ concentration during the training. If we draw a comparison between Chinese and German table tennis players, the German receive less intensive training while the Chinese win more matches.

'I understand that no foreign players are recruited in the Chinese league ahead of the Olympics. As for my personal plan after the Olympics, I have said a few times before, that Borussia Duesseldorf is the one that currently fits me most, and my life’s focus is also in Germany. Perhaps in future I will again go to live in China, but that’s something in future. First of all, let’s wait for the Beijing Olympic Games!

(First issued: Titan Sports, March 25, 2008)