Issue No. 4, April 18, 2008 - Training in Qatar

Last Saturday my club Borussia Düsseldorf played against Charleroi in the second-leg of the semifinals of European table tennis Champions League. It was really nice to play under the fantastic atmosphere in Charleroi stadium, and I am satisfied with the improvement of my form. My match against SAMSONOV was very hard, in the 5th set I led by 6-2 before unfortunately losing it 11-13. I still need some more experience to secure victory in the crucial moment of the match.  To me, what is important is that I completed a high-quality match against SAMSONOV, who just defeated some top Chinese players in the international tournament. I am regret that my club finally lost the semi-final by 1-3.

Before this semi-final, in early April, I, together with Michael Maze, Jörgen Persson and Dimi Ovtcharov, had a 10-day intensive training in Doha, Qatar. We enjoyed the nice weather there, which helped to refresh and relax ourselves. We had jogging freely and good table tennis training in the stadium. What a special and rewarding training camp!

Actually it was Michael Maze’s idea to go to Doha for training. Although there are definitely good training facilities in Germany, particularly in my club Borussia Düsseldorf, we this time focused on free physical training, and the weather in Qatar currently is much better than that in Germany. More importantly, we could completely concentrate on the training for one whole week, without any other appointment. We are all familiar with Qatar. The training conditions are sophisticated and former men’s double world champion Steffen Fetzne is also now in Qatar as a trainer. As top European table tennis players, we often have training together to learn from and motivate each other.

Of course recently we also pay our attention to the discussion on Beijing Olympics boycott. I’d like to say clearly that no German political leaders agree to a boycott and I myself certainly oppose such an idea! The Chinese have been anticipating the Olympics for a long time, so they don’t deserve such a treatment. I have many good friends in China, who have deep comprehension of the table tennis and are very friendly. I am glad that I can play in the Olympics in August before the Chinese spectators. Last but not least, I’d like to say that all political questions should be answered by the people who take care of that, because they are more familiar with the situation. That’s what we choose these people as politicians and sports officials for.

(First issued: Titan Sports, April 18, 2008)