Shanghai Daily news

Wang Liqin may well browse through his hefty volume of diaries for inspirations before taking on his rivals on home turf at the upcoming World Table Tennis Championship.
The 27-year-old Shanghai native, also the event's top seed, has regularly recorded every momentous moments of his life for years, including details of those pivotal matches in his 14-year-old ping pong career.
"Most of my opponents this time are familiar faces," said Wang.
"I will go through my diaries to figure out how to deal with them. I always do this before every major tournament and find it an effective way to prepare myself for a match."
The most eventful part in his log book must surely be the 2000-2001 period, when Wang first grabbed a doubles gold in the company of Yan Sen at the Sydney Olympics and then followed it up with a singles title at the 2001 World Table Tennis Championship in Japan.
That record, however, has soured since then. Wang squandered four match points in the fifth set of a best-of-seven tie at the 2003 World Championship in Paris against eventual title winner Werner Schlager of Austria, who won three sets in a row to score an epic come-from-behind quarterfinal win 4-3.
In Athens last year, Wang collapsed again, this time to teammate Wang Hao in the semifinal.
"There were many lessons to learn from those setbacks and they are all down in my diaries," said Wang.
While deliberating on the losses and gains of the past, Wang claims to have left all that behind as he heads to the worlds on the back of some encouraging results. In February, Wang dominated the Qatar Open, the last major gathering of the world's best players before the blue-ribbon Shanghai event. He has kept that level of consistence in China's warmup series over the past two months.
The draw for the championship also seems to favor him with no real threats until a possible quarterfinal clash against compatriot veteran Kong Linghui. Wang will play against a qualifier in the first round on Monday.
But Wang will be under intense pressure, given the fact that he is playing at home.
Posters of the world championship - the biggest ping pong tournament ever to be held in Shanghai - featuring Wang's lanky figure have been splashed all over the city, while watchers of the game have labelled him as an overwhelming favorite at the championship.
An introvert by nature, he is also scheduled partner Yan Sen in the men's doubles and Guo Yue in the mixed doubles at the week-long tournament.
"In terms of talent, Wang Liqin is the best,"said Cai Zhenhua, the chief coach of the Chinese team, late last month in Shanghai. "But he will need much more than sheer talent to win the world title."