China's Wang Hao (left) and Zhang Jike (right) celebrate with their coach Liu GuoLiang (centre) after winning a point against Germany's Bastian Steger and Timo Boll during their Men's Team table tennis Semifinal match China vs Germany of the London 2012 Olympic Games in London on Aug 6, 2012. (AFP PHOTO / SAEED KHAN)

MUMBAI - China’s table tennis federation thanked its Qatari counterpart on Tuesday for providing training facilities and equipment, including 2,000 balls, to its national team, who are training in Doha amid the coronavirus outbreak at home.

Almost 30 members of the Chinese squad have been training at Doha’s Aspire Academy Arena since the conclusion of the German Open in Magdeburg earlier this month.

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It might be a common situation in China but it’s very heart-warming, especially during this particular period and we really appreciate all this help from our international friends

Liu Guoliang, President, CTTA

With several countries imposing travel bans due to the outbreak, the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) sought a training facility for its players away from home.

It received invitations from Germany, Austria and Japan among others but chose Doha as several of their top players are set to participate in the Qatar Open from March 3-8.

“We didn’t expect that they could prepare the venue, tables and facilities for us within such a short period of time,” CTTA President Liu Guoliang said in a statement released by the International Table Tennis Federation.

“The tables that we are using for training are those that will be used at the Qatar Open.

“QTTA has even given us all 2,000 that they had in storage for us to train. It might be a common situation in China but it’s very heart-warming, especially during this particular period and we really appreciate all this help from our international friends.”

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Asian powerhouse China has won 28 out of 32 golds awarded since the sport became an Olympic sport in 1988 and QTTA chief Khalil Al-Mohannadi said he wanted to make sure the world’s best would be playing at the Qatar event.

“When I heard about the coronavirus in China, our worry was that the Chinese national team would not be able to play at the Qatar Open,” he said.

“For me it is not the Qatar Open and not the World Championships without China.”