Table Tennis: Karen brings family name to the table

MELBOURNE -Table tennis usually gets that dreaded tag hung round its neck: minority sport. But there is not very much of the minority about Karen Li and the New Zealand table tennis team, the Black Bats.

There are 40 million players in the world and Li's 163rd world ranking is misleading when it comes to assessing medal chances at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Placing in the world's top 200 can be seen in a better context with 40 million below.

She is also a perfect example of the Chinese table tennis diaspora - a word usually applied to Jews who have settled around the world away from their spiritual home of Israel but which has also been applied to Chinese players who cannot break through into the top rank. Many leave their homeland looking to play international matches. This is not always well received in their homeland where they are known by a Chinese term which loosely translates to overseas army.

Like He Zhili, the former No 1 world-ranked player who was barred by the Chinese from competing at the 1988 Seoul Olympics when she would almost certainly have won gold. He (who is a she) had refused to throw a match at the 1987 world championships, at the bidding of the Chinese authorities, and was punished by being denied Olympic status.

She moved to Japan in 1989, married a Japanese man and became known as Chire Koyama. Not surprisingly, given the history between China and Japan, this move was not well regarded in China. Koyama was branded a traitor and great was the rejoicing when she was bundled out of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics by a Chinese home-based player - after withdrawing from the 1995 world championships in China because she was intimidated by the prospect of a hostile crowd.

But Karen Li's return to China with the Black Bats involved no such high feelings. Li's weeks there saw her competing against players from China's Guangxi province. She played against many who are just below China's top rung and performed exceedingly well.

As she explained: "There are so many players in China and so many good players that there is often little difference between the very top level and the next one down. But things change so fast because there are so many players and so much pressure and people who cannot win selection in Chinese teams often leave to win selection in another country."

Like another, Li Jia Wei (no relation), who plays now for Singapore and is the gold medal favourite, ranked fifth in the world. Karen Li, now 28, had the trail blazed for her by older sister Li Chun Li, whose table tennis deeds for New Zealand have gone into our sporting hall of fame. She competed in four Olympics and won four medals in the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games, winning a gold in the singles, a silver in the doubles (with Karen), a bronze in the mixed doubles (with Peter Jackson) and a bronze in the teams event. She got into the 20s of the world rankings.

But the depth of the sisters' commitment to New Zealand - "We just love this country," said Li, "it is so lovely." - was seen when Chun Li stayed on to coach the women's team after retiring from the table. Her coaching has been determined and rigorous and Karen said her sister has helped the team move faster, be more consistent and better in concentration.

With Chun Li stepping down as a player, there is a bit of a gap - some would say a chasm - at the top of New Zealand table tennis but there are now high hopes Karen will fill it.

"I am feeling very good and very pleased with my play," she said before starting out in the teams event which will conclude today and in which the New Zealand team suffered a bad draw which included some of the powerhouses - like Singapore, which is full of expatriate Chinese players.

However, the real Li-tmus test will come when Li plays in the singles, the doubles with Annie Yang and, perhaps the best medal chance, the mixed doubles with Shane Laugesen. However, much of this team is young and gaining experience fast, especially 15-year-old Auckland Diocesan schoolgirl Sophie Shu who will pair with another schoolgirl, Jenny Hung, who turns 15 during the Games in the doubles and Jackson in the mixed. Hung will also play in the mixed with professional player Andrew Hubbard.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY