Hundreds of thousands of Beijingers are set to play in the world's biggest-ever table tennis tournaments.

One of the two contests will last for two months, whittling down hundreds of thousands of entrants to a single winner, while the other will see 10,000 players competing at the same time at the Temple of Heaven.

"We will invite 10,000 players to the Temple of Heaven park in July," Sun Kanglin, head of the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau, told China Daily yesterday.

The one-day gala was first announced two months ago, when Sun told a radio station that they were initially planning to hold the event on Tian'anmen Square, the world's largest city square.

Before the gala, the city is going to run a table tennis tournament throughout April and May.

The tournament will start in individual communities, with winners moving on to district, and later city, level.

Players who excel in the citywide tournament will qualify to join the gala in July.

The tournament will also give spectators the chance to see table tennis pros take on celebrities in all-star matches, with local government officials also slated to join the fun.

According to organizer Hou Yulan, Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China Liu Qi will take on Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan, at the launch ceremony early next month.

Table tennis is China's national sport with players far outnumbering those playing soccer or basketball, and with table tennis facilities found in schools, universities and the gyms of State-owned companies.

The contest is also being seen as a warm-up for Beijingers before the 2008 Olympics.

(China Daily 03/15/2007 page2)