2012 Chinese Super League Postponed (Videos)

The Chinese Table Tennis Super League's Organising Committee has announced last Tuesday, August 14, that this season's schedule has been postponed to October 24 and will be ushered by the match between Sichuan Changhong and Shandong Luneng in Urumqi. 

The original schedule states that the 2012 Chinese Super League was set to commence late this month. Basing from last year's schedule, which started after the Rotterdam Championships in May, this season is already delayed because the organising committee has agreed to support the national athletes on their quest for the Olympic gold. 

Indeed, the Chinese National Team returned home victoriously, bagging all four gold medals from the 2012 London Olympics. There is actually still time for the Super League to take place this month. However, with the 2012 Harmony Open, things are just to tight. 

Eventually, the organising committee decided to postpone the competition on October and will have the reigning Olympic champion Zhang Jike ushering the season. Zhang Jike will still play for Shandong Luneng. Last season, Zhang Jike played really well and was hailed as the MVP of the season. 

However, it was Ma Lin's Zhejiang who finally got the championship title. The Zhejiang Team was led by Ma Lin who was supported by Hao Shuai and the strongest foreign aide of the season, no other than Timo Boll. This year, there are no news that Timo Boll will once again play for Zhejiang after all the Olympics has already finished. 

Aside from Timo Boll's absence, there might be more changes in the team's lineup. According to table tennis forums in China, Ma Lin might transfer to Jiangsu, leading Chen Qi, Jiangsu's leader, to the Shandong Luneng Team with Zhang Jike. This information, on the other hand is still a rumour but who knows there might be more surprises for this season's Super League. 

Here are some videos of the Olympic champion Zhang Jike in last season's Super League:

Zhang Jike vs Xu Xin (June 5, 2011)
video kindly shared by janus770

Zhang Jike vs Ma Lin (June 26, 2011)
video kindly shared by janus770

Zhang Jike vs Timo Boll (Aug 10, 2011)
video kindly shared by janus770

Photo source: Feng Li / Getty Images Europe