HONG KONG, July 6: China achieved table tennis perfection at the last Olympics, sweeping both singles podiums and winning the team titles, but a rule change has given at least a glimmer of hope to their rivals in London.

Since the sport joined the Olympic programme in 1988, China have exerted an iron grip — taking 20 of the 24 available golds, including all four at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000.

But they took their dominance to a new level in front of home fans in Beijing four years ago, winning all six medals on offer in the men's and women’s singles, plus gold in both team events.

China’s power — demonstrated yet again by their men’s and women’s titles at the world team championships in Germany this year — has long led to concerns over the sport’s public appeal.

But in London, there will be at least two non-Chinese paddlers on the podium, after each country was limited to just two singles entrants. There are also men’s and women’s team events at the ExCel venue in London’s Docklands.

International Table Tennis Federation president Adham Sharara said the new rules will boost other countries’ medal hopes — and he called on China’s put-upon rivals to step up.

“The Chinese teams do not have a weak link,” Sharara said. “If you take away any of the team members, they remain very strong. As a matter of fact they could even enter two teams and maybe win a gold and a silver medal.

“My message to other teams like Germany and France in Europe, Japan and [South] Korea in Asia, is to really think about how they can challenge the Chinese to make it a more interesting contest between the Chinese and the other nations,” he said.

Sharara said the new rules guaranteed a wider spread of medals — although he admitted they were “unfortunate” for the excellent Chinese.

“The new rule is unfortunate for the Chinese because they have the three best athletes for sure,” Sharara remarked. “They will now only be competing for two medals instead of three [in the singles events].”—AFP