Source: Xinhua
04-29-2009 08:36
YOKOHAMA, Japan, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Every major rule change made by the world table tennis body had helped end the career of at least one top Chinese player. Cai Zhenhua was out after a ban on the same-color rubbers. Liu Guoliang quitted ahead of an alteration to the service rule. Now, it might be the time for Wang Liqin.
Wang, three-time men's world singles champion and Olympic doubles gold medalist in 2000, has been a pushover since the Beijing Olympics, in which speed glue was used for the last time.
Speed glue, discovered by accident in the 1970s when a player used bicycle puncture repair glue to fix his paddle before a match, revolutionized the game, increasing speed and spin by up to 30 percent.
But health hazards brought by the glue forced the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) to ban the substances from September 1, 2008, or just after China's clean sweep of gold medals in the Beijing Olympics.
The 30-year-old Wang, who led China to win the men's team gold and picked a singles bronze in the Olympics, has turned from hero to zero since the new glue was used, making it to the world championships on a wildcard.
"I am old and I can hardly adapt to the new glue," said Wang. "That's a reason for my poor performance."
Cai Zhenhua, the Chinese table tennis chief whose playing career was snapped by the ban on the same-color rubbers in the 1980s, said the speed glue ban made Wang less powerful.
