China is setting up a string of academies at top universities to secure a stream of talented young players in the face of huge changes to Chinese society, table tennis chief Cai Zhenhua has said.
Although China continues to dominate the game, the days when "ping pong" was the one of the few sources of entertainment in the country are over and parents are no longer prepared to let their children give up their education for a shot at stardom.
"We have fewer and fewer promising athletes," Cai told Tuesday's China Daily. "We used to have the best reserves of talent in the world, but the situation is different now. "I cannot see any youngsters like (men's world top two) Wang Liqin and Ma Lin, who really shocked me when I saw them early in their careers." Under China's sports system, top players are educated at special sports schools before moving on to provincial and then national teams.
Competition is ruthless, however, and those who fall by the wayside through loss of form or injury risk being left without an education and unable to secure a good job. Discussions were under way to set up "ping pong institutes" at Peking University, Beijing University of Physical Education and Shanghai institutions, Cai said. "Very few parents want to send their kids to professional teams because it's risky for families.
"The most talented kids will not play table tennis because they have other options and won't spend all their time at the table. "That's a reason behind our move: Get players to the table and guarantee them the country's best education." With the top four women in the world and top three men, there looks to be no short-term threat to China's global dominance.
Head coach Liu Guoliang is determined China will sweep all four gold medals on offer at next year's Beijing Olympics as they did at the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Games.
"Whenever we come to a tournament, gold medals are what we chase the most," Liu told the paper. "The Olympics is no exception. To clinch all the golds is not only the dream of Chinese players and coaches, it's our responsibility. "I know the whole country has very high expectations, but we don't have any excuses for missing out on a gold when the Olympics is on our doorstep."