Zhang, Li face tough title defenses

Defending champions Zhang Jike and Li Xiaoxia from China will face tough challenges at the World Table Tennis Championships which started in eastern China’s Suzhou on Sunday.

Zhang, who won the men’s singles title at the 2013 World Championships in Paris, was drawn in the bottom half on Saturday alongside the likes of world No 2 Xu Xin from China, Japan’s world No 5 Jun Mizutani and Belarussian veteran Vladimir Samsonov.

“I think the draw is quite normal. If you want to reach the final at the Championships you have to beat all your opponents on the road,” said Zhang. “Of course I want to defend my title but my oppo- nents will pose real threats to me so I will try my best in the tournament.”

Chuang Chih-yuan, from Chinese Taipei, and Zhang’s teammate Fang Bo were also drawn in the bottom half.

World No 1 Ma Long of China is the clear favorite in the top half to reach the final and he hopes to have another blockbuster final against Zhang, his teammate and longtime rival.

“I have never reached the final at the Championships, so I will take the tournament as a platform to showcase my skills and hopefully I can meet Zhang in the final,” Ma said.

Ma, who is desperate to claim his first singles championship at the worlds, could possibly clash with stars including his doubles partner, Timo Boll of Germany, world No 4 Fan Zhendong of China, world No 6 Dimitril Ovtcharov of Germany in the top half.

Li, the women’s singles defending champion, faces a tough bottom half against compatriots world No 2 Liu Shiwen and world No 6 Zhu Yuling.

Li, who is still struggling with an injury, admitted she is not in the best shape coming into the championships.

“I’m still recovering from my injury. For an athlete, health and body conditions are the most important thing. It’s even more so when you try to become the best player in China,” Li said.

Li’s teammate and world No 1, Ding Ning, has been drawn in the top half with world No 4 Feng Tianwei of Singapore, world No 5 Kasumi Ishikawa of Japan and world No 7 and teammate Wu Yang.

Ding is seeking her second singles title after winning in 2011.