The best players in the world are coming to Shanghai for the Table Tennis World Championships but many eyes will be on some of the sideline matches where local amateurs, young and old, take on the great champions of the past, writes Zhou Zuyi.

　　Dressed in blue-and-white-striped jogging pants and a gray-colored cardigan, Xu Zhifang fits the image of an ordinary senior morning exercise enthusiast, one of the many who can be seen on most Shanghai streets at dawn. But this would be a false impression.

　　The chosen exercise of the retired printing technician requires much more skill than that needed for the punching-against-the-air activity indulged in by many of his fellow local elders.

　　In fact, the 85-year-old exercises in a different, and much more effective, way: he plays competitive table tennis.

　　``I have been a paddler for more than half a century,'' says Xu, who has become something of a household name in Shanghai for his combination of age and table tennis skill.

　　The veteran registered himself as the oldest competitor in a widely publicized mass table tennis competition last month with the winners earning the chance to grab a big share of the limelight at the upcoming extravaganza surrounding the 2005 Table Tennis World Championship which starts this weekend.

　　More than 500 amateur paddlers competed last month in six age groups and the champion of each group will go paddle-to-paddle against former Chinese world champions in matches, part of the blue-ribbon event scheduled to run from Saturday through May 6.

　　``I didn't aspire for the honor to play against former world champions. I signed up just to enjoy the game and be part of the grand occasion,'' says Xu. ``You couldn't miss the chance as the world championships don't come to your doorstep all that often.''

　　In fact, Xu is just a small part of the WTTC fanfare that has been going on in Shanghai over the past couple of months. Waves of pre-event promotions have been banging the drum to herald the most prestigious contest in what is regarded as China's ``national sport.''

　　Table tennis, also known as ping pong, may trail behind such sports as soccer in terms of popularity in China but the country takes enormous pride in the prowess of its players who are the world's best when it comes to belting the 2.7-gram celluloid sphere.

　　Ever since the late Rong Guotuan, a landmark figure in Chinese table tennis history, broke through by taking the men's singles crown at the 1959 world championship in Germany, China has piled up an awesome total of 95 gold medals in the biannual world championships.

　　``In the 1970s and 1980s, ping pong was the prime sport and the favorite leisure activity of Chinese,'' says Duan Xiang, a member of the technical committee of the Chinese Table Tennis Association and a native of Shanghai.

　　Old Xu used to hone his playing skills at a table tennis club housed in the Great World Entertainment complex on Xizang Road, a venue where he ran into some of biggest names in the sport.

　　``Xu Yinsheng, in his teens then, was obviously absorbed in the game: he often played into the small hours,'' Xu says, referring to the multiple world champion and the former International Table Tennis Federation chief who is a father figure in Chinese table tennis. ``We didn't talk much with each other. We just played, on and on.''

　　Xu Yinsheng is just one example -- albeit the most outstanding one -- of more than a dozen world champion Shanghai paddlers. The top 16 in the sport over the years span generations of paddlers and they have given Shanghai the reputation of being ``the cradle of Chinese table tennis heroes.''

　　According to the Shanghai Table Tennis Association, up to 60 local primary schools and high schools are involved in a youth development program with ping pong forming part of the students' physical education course. Many factories and government agencies have their own amateur table tennis teams and have regular outings in tournaments every year.

　　All six group winners in the mass table tennis competition last month came from this background and many believe their matches will be a highlight of the world championships next week.

　　Chances are that Shanghai again will see a local hero take center stage at the Shanghai Grand Stage on May 6, the final day of the WTTC because Wang Liqin, the reigning world No.1 men's singles player and 2001 World Champion, is the red-hot favorite to win the most coveted of the five trophies on offer.

　　``Technically speaking, he's flawless,'' says Duan. ``But the home advantage could work against Wang as all eyes will be on him and so will the pressure. This could present a formidable challenge.''

　　Ironically, Xu, the old man, doesn't have an opinion about the drama surrounding the title. All he cares about is the game itself -- how he's going to balance it with his ordinary daily routine next week.

　　``I am still looking for someone to take care of my ailing wife during the tournament,'' says Xu. ``For me, next week will involve nothing but table tennis.'