Table tennis: Fukuhara to join Liaoning club in Chinese Super League

Asian Economic News, March 7, 2005

TOKYO, March 3 Kyodo

Japanese table tennis player Ai Fukuhara will join Chinese club Liaoning after turning down an offer from Super League rival Beijing, table tennis officials said Thursday.

Liaoning notified Fukuhara of its decision to let her play for the team shortly after negotiations ended in failure with Beijing, they said. Details of her contract were not immediately known.

People close to Fukuhara said she and Beijing had reached a basic agreement on a one-year professional contract from April but talks hit a snag on the terms, including a team sponsor.

The 16-year-old Fukuhara has played in a lower-tier Chinese league by locating her training base in Liaoning Province.

''She's very glad with the deal,'' Fukuhara's father, Takehiko, said. ''It's easy for her to communicate with people in the team and there already is a training table for her exclusive use.''

Fukuhara finished in the last 16 of the Athens Olympic singles tournament last summer and hopes that playing in the toughest table tennis league in the world will help her achieve a better result at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.