Jan-Ove Waldner is used to meeting his Chinese counterparts over the table tennis net. He has done all he could over the past few decades to minimize the Chinese paddlers' domination of the sport.

This time the 39-year-old met them without a bat in sight. They talked, laughed, drank beer, and tapped their feet to music in a bar in Beijing.

The bar, W Sports and Music Restaurant and Bar, is owned by the Swedish table tennis star and his partners in Sanlitun, an embassy district with many popular cafes and bars.

The guests for the opening night would have been well known to ping pong fans -- including former Chinese national head coach Xu Shaofa, men's coach Liu Guoliang, also winner of a table tennis grand slam, and Canadian paddler Johnny Huang.

For once, competition was absent.

"It is important for me to have a place to meet my Chinese friends," Waldner said, explaining his first investment in China.

For Waldner, running a bar is off-court entertainment more than a simple business. Possibly the most-recognized player in table tennis, he is believed to be the first table tennis millionaire. He won his first Porsche at age 16.

Waldner wants to learn management skills and offer a place for friends and his compatriots to meet.

"It is good experience for me to know how bars work, and it's good to have a place that resembles a Swedish bar." Swedish cooks are employed to cater for the customers and friends.

Waldner has made the bar like an archive of his table tennis career, with photos on the wall, and trophies on the table.

"I like the style of the bar and I was also involved in the design. "It's a bar where people can watch different kinds of sports and eat, and drink. It's for watching football, table tennis, all live sports, not just table tennis."

The Barcelona Olympic gold medalist, also a keen golfer, has set up a big screen for the purpose.

Prolonged career

As the first-ever grand slam winner of singles titles in the World Championships, World Cup and Olympic Games, Waldner became a household name in China because of his long-time confrontation with the Chinese paddlers.

Fans have rushed to have a look at the bar.

"Old Wa (as he is known in China) showed a great talent in sports. He is so senior but still plays at a high level. It is incredible in China," said Liu Fang, a 23-year-old student, who was seeking his autograph outside the bar.

There are many 'Old Wa' fans in China like her.

"Though he always gave the Chinese men's a hard time and sometimes made us very sad, I still like him and I will come to his bar when I have spare time," she said.

Waldner dismissed speculation that he would retire to spend more time on managing the bar.

"I enjoy the table tennis every time I play. I am deeply in love with it and it gives me a lot of fun," he said.

"I am still 100 per cent focusing on table tennis.

"I am not going to retire and I do not know when to retire. I will also play at the world championship in Shanghai next year."

The European had another great run in the Athens Olympics, ousting three top-seeded Chinese players in the singles and doubles in just one day. He beat China's world No 2 player Ma Lin 4-1 to book a berth in the singles quarter-finals and with his partner Jorgen Persson also outclassed Chinese pair Kong Linghui/Wang Hao 4-1 for another quarter-final berth in the doubles.

Chinese links

Having incredibly appeared in each of the past five Olympics since table tennis was introduced to the Seoul Olympics in 1988, he is now chasing happiness from sport rather than gold medals or championships.

"Waldner has beaten three generations of Chinese players," said Swedish team coach Peter Sternburg.

Many Chinese paddlers, including 1996 Atlanta Olympics singles champion Liu, were made famous at home by beating Waldner in major tournaments, but they also know what it's like to lose against him.

Waldner lost to Wang Hao in the quarter-finals of the 2004 World Cup, which ended last month in Hangzhou, although he managed to qualify from a tough group which contained Athens Olympic champion South Korean Ryu Seung-min and 2003 world champion Werner Schlager of Austria.

Having traveled to China numerous times but usually to play ping pong, Waldner hopes the bar will become a second home.

"I hope I can have a place to stay if one day I am not playing table tennis," he said.

"I have no plans to move to China, but I would like to bring my family here and spend more time with them here when I'm no longer playing."

(China Daily November 12, 2004)