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Good luck in Beijing: METRO Cash & Carry
sees off German table tennis players
Düsseldorf, 31 July, 2008 – With less than ten days to
go before the Beijing Olympic Games, the German table tennis team is all
set for the upcoming challenges. METRO Cash & Carry, the team’s major
sponsor, today delivers best wishes to the Olympians before they head off
to Beijing to compete in the biggest sporting event of today.
Timo Boll, Germany’s best table tennis player and
Olympic medal hopeful, is confi-dent of the team’s prospects in Beijing.
“It’s going to be amazing to play Olympic table tennis matches in China,
where the game stands out as the most favorite among all sports,” the
world’s number six stated. “Our team has worked very hard, and we are all
prepared to present ourselves in top shape at the Games.” Timo Boll will
not only compete for the medal ranks in the men’s single competition but also
help Germany’s national team in its strive for Olympic medal.
METRO Cash & Carry, the world’s leading
self-service wholesaler, initiated its table tennis sponsorship of the
German national table tennis team, Timo Boll, Christian Süß and Borussia
Düsseldorf in early 2007. Until now, the company celebrated Germany’s
European champions and Borussia Düsseldorf’s Bundesliga title. “We are
happy to be part of the great success Timo Boll and his team mates have
achieved in the past,“ said Dr. Peter Linzbach, Chief Customer Officer
and member of Executive Board, METRO Cash & Carry International. “We
wish our athletes and partners all the best in health and success at the
Olympics in Beijing!”
Timo Boll is likely to encounter China’s reigning
world champion Wang Liqin or Bel-arusian Vladimir Samsonov in the
quarter-finals, which are tough challenges for the three-time and
reigning European Champion’s medal ambitions. In the men’s team
competition, the European Champions Germany will make another attempt to
break the Asian domination to repeat its success of the World Team
Championships 2006 in Bremen when the team reached the semi-finals.
The women’s competitions will see two members of the
German team return to home grounds: Both, Wu Jiaduo and Zhenqi Barthel
are born Chinese and will now try their hardest to help Germany succeed
in the team and invidual competitions. As opposed to their men’s team
counterparts, the German women players have to try even harder to wedge
into the Asian powers for medals: The only Olympic medal won by
non-Asians in the history of women’s table tennis was bronze by
Fazlic/Perkucin (YUG) in 1988´s women´s doubles.
The table tennis sponsorship of METRO Cash & Carry
in particular targets the Chi-nese market where the company has been
active since 1996. At present, the com-pany operates 37 wholesale centers
in this country. Table tennis is one of the five biggest sports in the
world and number one in China. Moreover, the speed, preci-sion and
professionalism of Boll and Süß and that of the other German table tennis
players are an excellent match for the performance profile of METRO Cash
& Carry.
Contact:
METRO Cash & Carry International
Corporate Communications
Peter Wübben
Schlüterstraße 1
40235 Duesseldorf
Phone +49 (0)211 6886-1392
Fax +49 (0)211 6886-1395
Email: wuebben@metro.de
www.metro-cc.com
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