Special report: 2008 Olympic Games

    BEIJING, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- China's top-ranked player Wang Hao is showing great form in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games and are widely considered the most heralded Chinese paddler to chinch the men's singles title.

    China has fielded the trio of Wang Hao, silver medalist in the singles' event in Athens Olympics, four-time World Cup winner Ma Lin and three-time world champion Wang Liqin as well as substitue Chen Qi to compete at the tournament in Beijing.

    The lineup, dominating the world rankings, are deemed virtually unbeatable in team event after the country demolished arch-rivals South Korea 3-0 at this year's table tennis worlds in Guangzhou, China.

    Wang, who has been the world number one for 10 straight months, is at his best even in the two-day warm-up match in the southern Wu Xi city last week.

    Wang overcame the strong challenge of teammate Zhang Jike in the elimination round and whitewashed third-ranked Ma Long 3-0 in the final. Ma Long brushed aside more decorated Olympian Ma Lin 4-2 earlier after downing Wang Liqin 3-2 in the team event.

    "I have maintained a fairly stable form since the pre-Olympic training started one month ago," said Wang. "I used to have myself injured in the training, but not this time".

    Liu Fengyan, director of the Chinese Table Tennis and Badminton Administrative Center, the country's table tennis governing body, also praised Wang for his composedness and gritty performance after watching the match Monday.

    A pioneer in the penhold grip with his revolutionary reverse backhand move, the then 18-year-old Wang established his fame by claiming the men's singles title in Egypt Open in 2002 and marched his way into the top 10 in the world rankings.

    Wang, however, suffered unexpected setback in his defeat by South Korean Ryu Seung-Min in the 2004 Athens Olympics, who bagged the most coveted singles' title.

    Despite his outstanding playing technique, Wang only finished second in several national and world events afterwards and was prankly dubbed "All-time runner-up" by the media.

    Wang attributed his loss to more than one opponents, including Ryu, Timo Boll of Germany as well as Wang Liqin and Ma Lin to his technical flaw.

    "The psychological problems were also to blame," Wang said in a recent interview.

    Through two years' of hard training, Wang bounced back to demolish teammate Ma Lin to before being crowned at the 2006 Doha Asian Games. His confidence was regained after winning the first world title at last year's World Cup in Barcelona.

    "The Athens defeat taught me a lesson and it was a great breakthrough to finish off Ryu in Barcelona," said Wang. In their numerous encounters since Athens, Ryu has rarely beaten Wang, seemingly with nerves of steel now.

    Wang admitted that he was under pressure since the beginning of the pre-Olympic training. "As the match draws near, one feels more nervous", he said.

    The tournament is scheduled to kick off on Aug. 13 and last 11 days at the 8,000-seat stadium on the campus of Peking University.

    China is expected to make a clean sweep of all gold medals on offer, among which the mens' singles will be the one to watch. The event has twice prevented China from completing a gold medal sweep since table tennis made its Olympic debut at the 1988 Seoul Games.

    Pundits warned that any negligence in the event may result in a replay of the Athens scenario as defending champion Ryu, Boll and fifth-ranked Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus would stand in China's way for securing an all-round victory.

    Showing a scintillating form, Samsonov downed four Chinese charges in a row before winning the Kuwait Open in March.

    "Ryu is just one of the rivals China needs to take on in Beijng and we should be ready to cope with all potential competitors," Wang said.

    As for the new rule to replace the men's and women's doubles with the team events at the Games, a more determined Wang appeared confident, saying China's true enemy is themselves, not the new competition regulation.

    "I hope my teammates and I could set up a date in the final, which will ensure China's winning of the singles' title," he said.