Austrian Veteran Schlager Eyes for Medal in Beijing

At the age of 36, Austrian table tennis veteran Werner Schlager still believes he can win a medal at the upcoming Olympic Games.

"My goal is to make a medal, of course," the Austrian star told Xinhua after arriving at the Beijing international airport on Wednesday.

The Austrian star is looking forward to the challenge since his epic world championship win in 2003. However, playing against the Chinese on the home soil will be a daunting task for the 36-year old veteran.

"There are many many good Chinese players. I am not young any more, I have to be very careful and focused on every match," he added.

In Schlager's eyes, all Chinese players possess the ability to win the gold.

"It does not matter which one will win the gold, they are all good and in very high level," he said.

After a lull in fortunes since 2003, Schlager showed good form in 2008 by wining the men's singles title at the Europe Top Twelve in Frankfurt, earlier in the year.

He will compete in the men's singles and in the men's team event with Chen Weixing and Robert Gardos.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2008)

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