----Yahoo!Sport    |    Aug 21, 9:35 am EDT---- 

BEIJING (AP)—When Wang Chen came to Beijing, she began her final preparations for the Olympics by practicing on a pingpong table in her dad’s office.

A native of the city and a veteran of the indomitable Chinese national table tennis team, Wang is representing the U.S. at the Olympics. In America, where pingpong is known more for its diplomatic successes, athletes often have to rely on themselves when it comes to training and competitions.

“It was really tough,” Wang said. “I trained on that one table, it’s where the bosses in my dad’s work unit play. I found some European players who were on break to play with me.”

----New York Post    |    August 22, 2008----

BEIJING -– Chen Wang dreamed of this moment thousands of times while spending hours hitting ball after ball, perfecting her table tennis game as a child.

Of course, in those dreams, she was wearing the red and yellow of China, not the red, white and blue uniform she wore yesterday.

In those dreams, Wang was in her 20s about to enter the prime of her career, not 34 with an achy back and about to retire.

Nevertheless, there she was yesterday at Table 2 in the Peking University Gymnasium, beating Korea's Kyung Ah-Kim 4-3 in a tough seven-game match.

----Posted Thursday, August 21, 2008 7:11 AM ET----