Table tennis coach says China isn't ruining the game

China table tennis head coach Liu Guoliang said on Wednesday that Chinese players will continue to hone their skills despite accusations that they are ruining the game by monopolizing the world championships.

"It isn't the first time that Chinese are accused of ruining table tennis," said Liu in a team meeting on Wednesday. "But I believe the criticism was wrong."

China won four and a half gold medals at the five-event worlds, with the other half going to South Korean Yang Hae-un, who paired up with Chinese Xu Xin to win the mixed doubles title.

China had a clean sweep of five silver medals and won five bronze in the world championships that ended in the southeastern Chinese city of Suzhou on May 3, with other five teams splitting as many bronze medals.

Critics are worried China's monopoly of the sport might lead to an expulsion of table tennis from the Olympic Games.

"We should keep perfecting our game and don't worry about what they are saying," said Liu.

Liu disclosed that Olympic champion Zhang Jike might miss the Chinese league because his back injury worsened during the world championships.

Zhang, two-time world singles champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist, teamed up with Xu Xin to win the world men's doubles title and picked a singles bronze after losing to teammate Fang Bo in the semifinals. Endi