China's table tennis honor in young hands

Despite the squad's young profile, Fan and Zhu are both ranked No 1 in the world and will be expected to top the podium in Jakarta.

"It's a fresh new team, but the goal remains the same－winning gold medals at the Asian Games," said men's head coach Liu Guozheng.

"They should not only play good table tennis for themselves, but also should focus on cooperating with their teammates. As their coach, I'm looking forward to seeing some great performances."

Apart from bagging golds, the Asiad also serves a chance to give the young players experience ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Ma, Xu and Ding, meanwhile, will not be on vacation during the Games but will compete in the ITTF World Tour Bulgaria Open.

In terms of China's rivals, it appears unlikely that the Japanese will pose a major threat, with many of their best players, including rising star and world No 6 Tomokazu Harimoto, giving the Games a miss.

South Korea, on the other hand, should be a different story, with the country's head coach Kim Taek-soo in determined mood.

"China and Japan are at a top-class level, and we know we're behind in the world rankings," said Kim. "I personally don't want to lose to Japan. I won a gold medal when I was a player, but this time I really want to win as a coach."