SINGAPORE - Such is China's dominance in table tennis that more than 50 per cent of the world's top 10 male and female paddlers hail from the country.

Ma Long, Wang Hao and Ma Lin occupy the top three spots in the men's world rankings, while China's women, led by Liu Shiwen, dominate the top five spots.

Reigning European champion Michael Maze of Denmark, the world No 8, believes the continent's players need to unite to break China's stranglehold on the sport.

"In Europe we have to work together, because Chinese table tennis is so big, they have so many good players," he told MediaCorp, on the sidelines of a youth table tennis clinic hosted by Danish shipping company Norden at the Singapore Sports School yesterday.

"I'm in Denmark, Timo (Boll, world No 4) is in Germany, (Vladimir) Samsonov (world No 6) is based in Russia.

"We have to try to find a way to come together, that we are practising together, helping each other.

"I have been practising a lot with Timo lately and I think it's very good, but we can do it more often because the Chinese players have good sparring everyday.

"They practise against world-class players all the time. In Europe we are sparring against good players maybe 50 per cent of the time and we have to come together and develop things together."



The Local-foreign talent balance

Considered one of the best defensive players in the world, 28-year-old Maze claimed the scalps of China's world No 7 Hao Shuai, and 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games silver medallist Wang Hao, the world No 2, at the 2005 World Championships in Shanghai, en route to a singles bronze.

He partnered Finn Tugwell at the 2004 Olympics in Athens to win the men's doubles bronze.

Yesterday, he conducted a clinic for 44 youngsters from the national youth team, Singapore Sports School, Hwa Chong Institution, Anglican High, Raffles Institution, Raffles Girls' School and Maris Stella High School.

Maze, who moved to Germany at the age of 16 to train with the country's top paddlers, was impressed with what he saw at the Sports School.

"I hear that you will put more effort into developing your own talent in all kinds of sports and that's a very good start," he said. "Of course you will not make a table tennis champion in one week.

"But you have good players like Gao Ning and Yang Zi and a good coach, good system, and good table tennis hall.

"Give the talent some chances, sponsors and a government who gives money, because money is an issue in top sport. If you are willing to do that, then I don't see why Singapore can't create a great player."

Maze believes the success of China-born talent like Li Jiawei, Feng Tianwei, and Wang Yuegu, who won the women's team silver at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, will give young Singapore hopefuls a boost.

But he stressed the importance of maintaining a good balance between foreign and local talent.

"We have to find the right mix," he said. "The foreign-born athletes help because they are at such a high level. But if there are too many, then it will keep some of the local talent down and they will never have a chance to compete at international level."