Issue No. 9, July 15, 2008 

With the Olympics approaching, I feel more and more excited and completely concentrate on my target. During the team training these days, I am so often reminded of the upcoming Games by the training program and communications with the coaches. Do I also keep the Olympics in mind when asleep? I am a realistic person, not a dreamer, so I am aware that only hard training can lead to the victory at the Olympics.

This time the Olympics will be quite different from the past two Games that I experienced. Because it is in Beijing, table tennis simply stands out as a focus, which means I have received a number of media interview inquiries from around the world. It’s a pity that I am only able to answer some of them due to the limited time. After all, most of the time and energy are dedicated to training. Nevertheless I am delighted to keep regular communications with my Chinese friends.

Regarding the training details of our team, well, this is what I can’t specify now. I also don’t think my Chinese counterparts would offer to disclose their training details. What I can say is that the German team’s training is very hard, all in a bid to deliver highest possible performance in Beijing.

I was asked whether in German team there are some training partners who imitate opponents’ styles to set up the key players, as in the Chinese team. Firstly, I have just heard that the Chinese team adopts such a training approach, but I have never witnessed on my own. Besides, the mock training is not possible here because the Chinese players are too strong and too unique to imitate.

Although the training at present is pretty intensive, I still enjoy the game, as I did when I was a boy. For me, table tennis is the most marvelous and creative ball-game in the world. The joy I have out of the table tennis has never ever changed, from my childhood up to present.

(First issued: Titan Sports, July 15, 2008)

METRO Cash & Carry co-sponsors Timo Boll, Christian Süß, the German national team as well as the table tennis club Borussia Düsseldorf.  The table tennis sponsorship of METRO Cash & Carry primarliy targets China market with a view to boosting the MCC brand in the country.

Timo Boll, who ranked world No.1 in 2003 and played one season in the Chinese table tennis league in 2006, has become very popular worldwide and especially in China. Currently he is No.5 in the latest ITTF ranking. Table tennis is one of the five most popular sports in the world and number one in China.