Issue No. 10, July 30, 2008

On July 31, the sponsor of our German national table tennis team, METRO Cash & Carry, will organize a farewell & good luck press conference in Düsseldorf, which is also the last media meeting before we head for Beijing. I am glad that the Olympics Games are soon to open and our pre-Games intensive training is going to wind down. I very much look forward to the table tennis matches in the stadium of Beijing University. With less than 10 days to go before the opening, I am 100% prepared, mentally and physically.

Days ago I joined a training camp in Austria with other European players like Samsonov and Schlager. I feel satisfied with my form and training effect. This is normally the way how the European table tennis top players are preparing for a major tournament and we enjoyed the high-quality training there. I believe Samsonov is also in good shape now. However we won’t give comments on the prospects of Beijing Olympics; after all, we have no idea who we will meet before the draw.

According to our schedule, the national team will leave for Beijing on August 6. Before the departure, I continue my pre-Olympics training as follows: from July 22 to 25, training in Frankfurt, one day off on July 26, between July 27 and August 2, training in Düsseldorf. On the evening of July 27, we had one warm-up match with the visiting Swedish national team in Hamm. On August 1, we will have an invitational tournament including all the top players from Europe – a real tournament, open to media and public from quarterfinals onwards.

Time flies! Almost 5 months have passed since my column’s first episode on the METRO Cash & Carry website, now I am writing you the last issue before the Olympic Games. My heartfelt thanks go to the readers! See you at Beijing Olympics!!

(First issued: Titan Sports, July 30, 2008)