On April 1st, the Chinese national team held a practice session for the mixed doubles pairs in Zhengding. Now the Chinese roster appears to be quite firm, even though the announcemnet will not be made until April 4th. It is not hard to see, based on the results of the training sessions, which players have secured the tickets to Osaka.
On the men's team, the top 6 players have obviously done better than the others, so the newer players can only fight for one spot. In the internal competitions, Zhan Jian from Wubei Province has beaten the others to be the only new face on the Chinese men's team. The team event roster is made up of Kong, Liu Guoliang, Liu Guozheng, Ma Lin and Wang Liqin. The other 2 singles entries are Yan Sen and Zhan Jian. The three mens doubles pairs are Kong/Liu, Wang/Yan and Ma/Liu Guozheng.
On the women's team, Wang Nan, Li Ju and Zhang Yining hold their top positions. Sun Jin and Yang Ying have also done well, and will be on the team event roster together with the first three. The other 2 women's singles entries are Niu Jianfeng and Guo Yan. Niu, from Hebei Province, is tied for third place with Wang Nan after the two giant round robins held in Zhending (Zhang Yining is 1st, and Lin Ling is 2nd), so it is natural that she makes the team. Guo Yan, from Beijing, won the Croatia Open and advanced past Li Nan and Bai Yang to get the last ticket. In women's doubles. Wang/Li and Sun/Yang are naturally selected, and the third pair is still not set yet. Zhang Yining/Zhang Yingying appears to have the best shot at it.
China is sending 7 pairs to the mixed doubles event. They apear to be Liu Guoliang/Sun, Liu Guozheng/Li Nan, Wang Liqin/Wang Nan, Yan/Li Ju, Qin/Yang Ying, Zhan/Lin Ling and Ma/Zhang Yingying. Qin/Lin has the best performance so far, but Liu/Sun and Wang/Wang are very strong also.
So it looks like the Osaka men's team consists of Kong, Liu, Wang, Ma, Liu, Yan, Zhan and Qin. The two Liu's, Ma and Wang will probably play in 4 events. On the women's team will be Wang, Li, Zhang Yining, Sun, Yang, Guo, Niu, Zhang Yingying, Li Nan and Lin Ling. Wang, Li Ju, Sun and Yang will play in 4 events, and Lin Ling and Lin Nan will only be in the mixed doubles.
The main goal for the men's team is to win the Swaythling Cup. Coach Yin Xiao feels that Kong and Liu Guoliang are still the nucleus of the team, and that they will shoulder the responsibility well. Coach Cai thinks that the outcomes are more uncertain this time, because of the newer ball. "Our understanding of our own ability is not as good as before, and we also do not understand our opponents' levels well", Cai said.
In the men's team, the newcomer Zhan Jian is somewhat of a surprise. It is rare for a relatively unknown player to be playing in the Worlds for China. He got selected because he won the mock tournament in Zhengding. He plays a rare style: shakehand with pips out on the forehand and inverted on the backhand.
The problem facing the top players like Wang Nan will be the sheer number of matches they have to play. Wang is playing 4 events, and the physical and mental stress are very severe towards the end.