Related News
Home » Sports » Table Tennis
Liu, Kong take charge of Chinese paddlers
Source: Agencies |
February 28, 2013, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA has put the grand slam winning duo of Liu Guoliang and Kong Linghui in charge of maintaining the country's formidable dominance in world table tennis, local media said yesterday.
Liu, who won both the singles and doubles gold medals at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, had been appointed China's general head coach while retaining the same position with the men's team, Xinhua news agency reported.
Kong, who partnered Liu in Atlanta and won the singles gold in Sydney four years later, would be in charge of the women's team, it added.
"My predecessor Shi Zhihao did an extraordinary job," Kong was quoted as saying by the report.
"Under Shi's reign, the Chinese women's team pocketed all gold medals on offer in two Olympic Games, which has set the bar high for me.
"... we are not just eyeing to win more gold medals, but going to make table tennis a more popular sport in China and elsewhere in the world," said Kong.
Liu had no illusions about the challenges ahead but was confident of taking Chinese table tennis to a new high.
"It will be very challenging, for sure," Liu said. "I'm both confident and determined to create a new era of table tennis alongside my buddy Kong Linghui in the coming years."
China completed a sweep of all the Olympic table tennis golds at last year's London Games, having swept all four titles in the previous Games at Beijing.
Liu and Kong, both 37, will have to prove their worth at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The two were rivals on the national team in the 1990s but also firm friends.
"We were called up to the junior national team in the same year when we were 13, but two years earlier we had known each other during some national events," recalled Kong, dubbed 'King Kong' by his adoring fans and who remains popular years after his retirement.
"Kong and I have always been a pack. In the past 26 years, we've been through a lot together," said Liu.
"When we were players, we trained together, played all kinds of matches together, sometime against each other and sometimes combined as a pair. In all those years, we've shared so many memories, joy and tears."
Liu, who won both the singles and doubles gold medals at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, had been appointed China's general head coach while retaining the same position with the men's team, Xinhua news agency reported.
Kong, who partnered Liu in Atlanta and won the singles gold in Sydney four years later, would be in charge of the women's team, it added.
"My predecessor Shi Zhihao did an extraordinary job," Kong was quoted as saying by the report.
"Under Shi's reign, the Chinese women's team pocketed all gold medals on offer in two Olympic Games, which has set the bar high for me.
"... we are not just eyeing to win more gold medals, but going to make table tennis a more popular sport in China and elsewhere in the world," said Kong.
Liu had no illusions about the challenges ahead but was confident of taking Chinese table tennis to a new high.
"It will be very challenging, for sure," Liu said. "I'm both confident and determined to create a new era of table tennis alongside my buddy Kong Linghui in the coming years."
China completed a sweep of all the Olympic table tennis golds at last year's London Games, having swept all four titles in the previous Games at Beijing.
Liu and Kong, both 37, will have to prove their worth at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The two were rivals on the national team in the 1990s but also firm friends.
"We were called up to the junior national team in the same year when we were 13, but two years earlier we had known each other during some national events," recalled Kong, dubbed 'King Kong' by his adoring fans and who remains popular years after his retirement.
"Kong and I have always been a pack. In the past 26 years, we've been through a lot together," said Liu.
"When we were players, we trained together, played all kinds of matches together, sometime against each other and sometimes combined as a pair. In all those years, we've shared so many memories, joy and tears."
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
