BEIJING, April 6 (Xinhua) — Liu Guoliang, who had a profitable enjoying profession earlier than transitioning to teaching, was re-elected because the president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) on Thursday.
The 47-year-old, first elected because the CTTA chief in December 2018, was unanimously re-elected by a present of palms by the CTTA delegates as the one nominee for the place.
“I’m thrilled to be re-elected while also feeling more pressure and a sense of responsibility,” mentioned Liu, who swept a “Grand Slam” of Olympic, World Championships and World Cup singles titles in his enjoying profession and served because the chief coach of the Chinese nationwide group.
In addition to Liu’s re-election, Qin Zhijian, present secretary-general of the CTTA, was elected as vp of the group together with Liu Yi, Zhang Xiaopeng, Wang Liqin, Gao Yaxiang, and Zhang Lei. He Xiao was named the brand new secretary-general.
“In the new term, we will focus on the Chinese team’s Paris Olympic preparation, laying a solid foundation for the development of table tennis, fostering quality competitions, and promoting table tennis culture to ensure a sustainable and high-quality development of the sport in China,” mentioned Liu whereas delivering his speech.
Liu emphasised that 2023 is an important 12 months because the Chinese group is making a remaining push in its preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and revealed that the group’s roster for the Paris Olympics is predicted to take form by the tip of the 12 months.
“We have the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Durban, the Hangzhou Asian Games, and some World Table Tennis (WTT) tournaments this year. These competitions will be closely related to the Paris Olympics, whether in terms of our preparation, players’ ranking points, or squad selection,” he mentioned.
At the final Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, China received 4 of 5 gold medals in desk tennis, whereas the combined doubles title went to hosts Japan.