One disappointment is the absence of world No1 Wang Liqin of China. He surged to the top of the rankings only this year, too late to qualify for the Games. The women's singles will be missing the star performer of the past decade, China's Deng Yaping, gold medallist at the past two Olympics, who has retired. Their main obstacles will be Taiwan's Chen Jing, seeded third, and Korea's Ryu Ji-Hye, fifth. The competition opens today with the men's and women's doubles.
Singles start tomorrow.
Local hopes today will be with the doubles pair Shirley Zhou and Miao Miao, who are probably Australia's best chance of a medal. Get start lists and fast results for Table Tennis. Table tennis officials now have to monitor the glue used to stick the rubber on the paddles. Find out who the main gold medal chances are. Updated five times a day once the Games begin.