Good luck in Beijing: METRO Cash & Carry sees off German table tennis players

Düsseldorf, 31 July, 2008 – With less than ten days to go before the Beijing Olympic Games, the German table tennis team is all set for the upcoming challenges. METRO Cash & Carry, the team’s major sponsor, today delivers best wishes to the Olympians before they head off to Beijing to compete in the biggest sporting event of today.

Timo Boll, Germany’s best table tennis player and Olympic medal hopeful, is confident of the team’s prospects in Beijing. “It’s going to be amazing to play Olympic table tennis matches in China, where the game stands out as the most favorite among all sports,” the world’s number six stated. “Our team has worked very hard, and we are all prepared to present ourselves in top shape at the Games.” Timo Boll will not only compete for the medal ranks in the men’s single competition but also help Germany’s national team in its strive for Olympic medal.

METRO Cash & Carry, the world’s leading self-service wholesaler, initiated its table tennis sponsorship of the German national table tennis team, Timo Boll, Christian Süß and Borussia Düsseldorf in early 2007. Until now, the company celebrated Germany’s European champions and Borussia Düsseldorf’s Bundesliga title. “We are happy to be part of the great success Timo Boll and his team mates have achieved in the past,“ said Dr. Peter Linzbach, Chief Customer Officer and member of Executive Board, METRO Cash & Carry International. “We wish our athletes and partners all the best in health and success at the Olympics in Beijing!”

Timo Boll is likely to encounter China’s reigning world champion Wang Liqin or Belarusian Vladimir Samsonov in the quarter-finals, which are tough challenges for the three-time and reigning European Champion’s medal ambitions. In the men’s team competition, the European Champions Germany will make another attempt to break the Asian domination to repeat its success of the World Team Championships 2006 in Bremen when the team reached the semi-finals.

The women’s competitions will see two members of the German team return to home grounds: Both, Wu Jiaduo and Zhenqi Barthel are born Chinese and will now try their hardest to help Germany succeed in the team and invidual competitions. As opposed to their men’s team counterparts, the German women players have to try even harder to wedge into the Asian powers for medals: The only Olympic medal won by non-Asians in the history of women’s table tennis was bronze by Fazlic/Perkucin (YUG) in 1988´s women´s doubles.

The table tennis sponsorship of METRO Cash & Carry in particular targets the Chinese market where the company has been active since 1996. At present, the company operates 37 wholesale centers in this country. Table tennis is one of the five biggest sports in the world and number one in China. Moreover, the speed, precision and professionalism of Boll and Süß and that of the other German table tennis players are an excellent match for the performance profile of METRO Cash & Carry.

METRO Cash & Carry is represented in 29 countries with more than 600 self-service wholesale stores. With more than 100,000 employees worldwide, the company achieved sales of € 31.7 billion in 2007. METRO Cash & Carry is a sales division of the METRO Group, one of the most important international retailing and trading companies. In 2007, the group reached sales of € 64.3 billion. The company has a headcount of more than 280,000 employees and operates about 2,200 outlets in 31 countries. The operating business is performed by the sales brands which operate independently in the market: METRO/MAKRO Cash & Carry, Real hypermarkets, Media Markt and Saturn – market leader in consumer electronics centers in Europe, and Galeria Kaufhof department stores. More information at: www.metrogroup.de.

Contact:
METRO Cash & Carry International
Corporate Communications
Peter Wübben
Schlüterstraße 1
40235 Duesseldorf
Phone +49 (0)211 6886-1392
Fax +49 (0)211 6886-1395
Email: wuebben@metro.de
www.metro-cc.com