MANCHESTER, May 1: China, having retained both team titles, go into action in the individual events at the World Table Tennis Championships tomorrow aiming to repeat their 1995 unique clean sweep of seven golds.

Players from 115 other countries competing at the G-Mex Centre are intent on preventing another Chinese takeaway but only a handful of them have any chance of derailing the champions.

Chinese team manager Li Furong is anxious to deflect some of the pressure away from his players because of the high expectations.

China's strength in the men's singles is formidable with defending champion Kong Linghui, Olympic gold medallist Liu Guoliang and world number six Wang Tao spearheading the title assault.

but the 21-year-old kong appeared vulnerable in the team event, losing to second-seeded 1989 world champion Jan-Ove Waldner of Sweden in the quarter-finals and South Korea's 1988 Olympic gold medallist Yoo Nam-Kyu in the semi-finals.

Liu went into the team final against france with an unbeaten record but that was spoiled by Patrick Chilla.

In fact, the only Chinese team member to emerge with a 100 per cent record was the 29-year-old left-hander Wang, veteran of four world championships. It is difficult to look beyond China in the women's event where defending champion Deng Yaping is hoping to make it two wins in the last three championships, having first held the title in 1991.

The hard-hitting 24-year-old holds the World Cup in addition to winning both the singles and doubles titles at the World Championships and Atlanta Olympics and her appetite for success is as strong as ever.

The top eight women's seeds are all Chinese although several of them are representing different nations.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.