International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) president Adam Sharara has strongly denied an anti-China bias, saying all rule changes are introduced for the sake of the sport itself.

"It's normal to think this way. Any nation that dominates a sport, if you make any changes to the rules of the sport, they would feel it will affect them first," said Sharara.

"But actually, not only Chinese players, all top players are affected," he added.

After years of China's dominance in the sport, the ITTF in recent years introduced specific measures many believe are intended to shackle the country's superiority.

Rule changes since the Sydney Olympics include a reduction from21 point to 11 point in sets and using a bigger ball.

"Over time, maybe at the beginning of any changes the Chinese are affected, but very quickly they rise to the top again," said Sharara.

However, China's failure to land the men's singles title at the last world championships in Paris, won by Austria's Werner Schlager, is regarded as an example of the effect the rule alterations have had on the Chinese game.

Chinese officials fear dominance at the ongoing world championships in Shanghai could lead to more changes being enacted in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

"It is certainly great to sweep all five events of the World Championships, but now I wonder whether the ITTF will take some more measures to cripple China's players if we clinch all titles," said Cai Zhenhua, director of the Chinese Administration Center of Table Tennis and Badminton.

Sharara, a strong advocate of rule changes since his election as the ITTF chief in 1999, played down China's concerns.

"We will concentrate on presenting the sport better," said the 52-year-old Canadian.

All 28 Olympic sports face a vote this July at the International Olympic Committee Session in Singapore to decide whether they will be part of the 2012 Olympics. If they are to be on the program in 2012, they have to win 51 percent support from the IOC members.

When asked if he is worried about the future of table tennis, Sharara said he was very confident that the sport will remain in the Olympics.

"All the elements that are being used to judge the sport, like universality and TV coverage, we are very strong," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 3, 2005)