Table tennis is a pressure game. And for China's men's team, taking the nation's favourite game to both the World Team Championships and the Olympics this year, anxiety is running high.
A month ago, in the kind of disciplinary action most people presumed had vanished with Mao suits, four young players were expelled from the national team for 'conducting romances'.
They included Bai Ying, reportedly the 19-year old girlfriend of world number one player Ma Lin, and 17-year old Fan Ying, the girlfriend of world number nine Wang Hao.
Even more surprising was that Liu Gouliang, the team's progressive and, at just 28, youngest coach ever appears to have been behind the move. Liu was easily the greatest player of his generation; a double Olympic gold medal winner and one of just three players in the history of the game to win a Grand Slam. As a competitor the Chinese press nicknamed him 'Pillar of Strength' for his lethal calm. But as a coach there are doubts.
Under his tutelage, the men's team remain number one, but they are no longer all-conquering. In recent months the women's team have been bringing home far more medals. And as the Olympics approach there is a growing concern that the demands made by China on its table tennis players is unreasonably intense.
Everyone in Xiamen knows the national team are in town. Like a touring rock super-group, the team rolled in with their own auxiliary staff, medical team, 10 coaches and over 40 players.
They also brought their own Olympic quality floor, security personnel and political banners. They are here because they want to train on the same latitude as Doha in Qatar, host city for the World Team Championships commencing on March 1.
