TTSTAR - ENJOY TABLE TENNIS

01/02/2010 - European champion and best ranked player from the Old Continent at the ITTF rankings WU Jiaduo will play at the LIEBHERR Europe Top-12 in Dusseldorf for a fifth time. FSV Kroppach’s 32 years old WU will arrive to Dusseldorf well prepared for the challenges. Jiaduo spend some time in China’s Tongzhou this year.

- Are you satisfied with the outcome of the preparation in China?

“Because of the Grand Finals I only spent five days practicing in Tongzhou. But those five days were very intensive. Most of us, Europeans there, already had experience from the two-weeks training camp last summer. So it wasn’t really new for us and we knew what to expect. The intensity and the quality level are always very high – no matter whether you practice with the national A- or B-team of China. Next to the long training sessions with them my German group did some additional physical exercise program. All in all it was very tough, of course,”said WU.

At the Top-12, after 9th place at the premiere WU succeeded to the position number five in Arezzo and finished third in Frankfurt and Dusseldorf in two previous occasions.

“After some intensive training sessions I am currently a little tired, but that’s normal. I still have more than one week time to get in shape. I will try and enter the semi-final this year again. After that I will see. Entering the semis is already a difficult task since all opponents in Düsseldorf are very strong. “

- Who will be the toughest adversary to beat in Dusseldorf this year?

“The top three from my point of view are LIU Jia, LI Jiao and LI Jie. But the other eight play on almost the same level. In the end it will be a matter of tactics and how the players are on that day, either in good form or bad.”

- After the title in Stuttgart at the European Championships do you feel some change in your career?

“I don’t feel that the pressure on me has risen because of the title. I like playing in Germany on home soil in general. It is a huge motivation for me when people support me during the match. I do not think back to the European Championships. I’ve gone back to normal. The title was in 2009, now it is 2010 – a new year with new goals. There is no time to lean back. I need to keep on working and working on my game and on my body.”

- WU pointed her life has not been changed a lot since last September.

“Last year I had many invitations from my club, my sponsors, the city council and the county of my club. That was an honor for me of course. But now I completely focus on table tennis.”
What is your top goal in 2010?

“My first goal is of course to play well at the Top-12. At the beginning of March there will be German Championships. I have never won the singles title there so far. After that we will have the German Open in Berlin. Two years ago I became second at the German Open in our capital. It was simply fantastic to play a Pro Tour final and be strongly supported by the German crowd. In May there are the World Team Championships in Moscow, in September the European Championships. A lot of goals as you can see. Anyway, I have to take it step by step. So: first focus on the Top-12 in Düsseldorf.”

What is your interest beside table tennis, favorite movie, book, music...

“I meet my friends whenever possible. As I’m away very often I phone quite a lot to compensate of a meetings with family and friends directly. I read a lot on the internet, preferably news and reportages. I like going to restaurants, not only to Chinese as you don’t find real Chinese-style cooking in Germany. But many other cuisines, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, almost any kind. The last movie I’ve seen was a Chinese one in China. It’s not known over here.”
(by Milica NIKOLIC, EWT)