Susan Sarandon, a long time fan of the table tennis, took to the court at this year's Volkswagen China vs. World, Team Challenge, in an amateur match that was played out in font of a capacity crowd amidst the professional action.
Sarandon, a co-owner of SPiN Galactic a new wave of table tennis social clubs, has big plans for the future of the sport saying:
"I love ping pong, it goes across age and gender and size. I love watching little girls beat great big muscular guys. And I love how fast it is."
She added: "I think in the United States, those of us at SPiN are trying to make it more popular as a social exchange with people because of that, because it cuts across every demographic that there is."
Sarandon, formed part of a team of five representing NY SPiN in the friendly match against opposition from Shanghai. In a buoyant atmosphere the teams took it in turns to field different players every four points.
The crowd cheered the Academy-Award winning actress as she opened the match, unfortunately for Sarandon her opponent wasn't quite as welcoming. The players continued to rotate with the winning team decided by the first to reach 41.
Sarandon was the player on court for NY SPiN as the match was closed out, but was unable to save the match point to level the score as Shanghai went on to win 41-39.
Later at the official dinner Sarandon said: "I was disappointed to lose that last point; it meant my team lost, I feel I let them down."
Mr Yao Zhenxu from the Chinese Table Tennis Association earlier explained to the media: "It was a friendship point!"
Sarandon replied: "Mr Yao you can be my press agent!"
In preparation for the match Sarandon had the opportunity to train with Wang Liqin, three times Men's Singles World Champion and Tong Feiming, the winner of the Women's Singles title at the English Open in 1997 and the following year bronze medalist in the Women's World Cup.
Sarandon also managed to squeeze in a Talk Show on the Shanghai's International Television Channel, where she was joined again by Wang Liqin.
She also had the opportunity to meet more of the world's elite at a specially organised "Meet and Greet" session where members of New York's SPiN Club met Timo Boll, Jun Mizutani and Joo Se Hyuk who formed the World Team that faced China.
For more information, contact:rpettit@ittf.com
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