haha...
Good for our eyes, why not? hehe...
Then in this case, whereas put on skirts, wear bikini to play. Cooler, no need switch on air-condition or fan. Save the world; and make a greener environment. haha....
Watched the Table Tennis Gold medal Zhang Yi Ning against Wang Nan. An interesting game, Zhang Yi Ning is really the Rank no#1 player for female table tennis... Found her looks quite pleasant & her smile was sweet too (but last only for 1-2min after the last ball, smiling & shaking hands with opponents & judges and waving to spectators).
Looking forward for the new change... wahaha...
Table Tennis champions give nod to sexing up sport
BEIJING (AFP) - - Maria Sharapova's dresses may never make an appearance, nor the Williams sisters' bling, but table tennis is at least trying to sex up its sport.Some women paddlers gave a nod of approval this week to suggestions from a senior governing body official to wear skirts during matches to make their game more stylish in an attempt to pull in the crowds.
"We are trying to push the players to use skirts and also nicer shirts, not the shirts that are made for men, but ones with more curves," International Table Tennis Federation vice-president Claude Bergeret said.
With loose-fitting shorts and baggy shirts the usual attire, table tennis, mostly played in bland gymnasiums around the world, has never had the glamour of women's tennis nor the sex appeal of beach volleyball.
Wang Chen of the United States, who used to play for China before moving to New York eight years ago, said some players were already moving to skirts.
"Some players are already wearing skirts, I think it's a good idea, the game (already) looks more beautiful than before," said Wang.
"I think women should wear dresses like tennis players," the 34-year-old added. "I think our outfits are so boring, not sexy."
Wang said sexing up the uniforms would draw the crowds.
Japan's Ai Fukuhara is one player already taking the initiative, opting for a "skort" -- a tight skirt with cycling shorts underneath -- for her round of 16 match Thursday against China's Zhang Yining, who wore black shorts and shirt with a striking yellow dragon printed on the front.
Plans to sex-up the image of a sport, which is an obsession in Asia but associated with damp, community halls and youth clubs in the west, are nothing new.
At the 2007 Women's World Cup in Chengdu, a range of sleek table tennis dresses were shown off with top fashion designer Lu Kun called in to handle the design.
"Although the skirts are just a small part of the changes, they may spark a revolution by changing the image of table tennis," explained Steve Daiton, the Director of the ITTF Asia Office.
"It might be a revolution if women paddlers wear skirts during games just like tennis and badminton players, which will definitely help win back the lost interest in the game."
Not all fans are supportive of the idea.
"Don't get me wrong - as a healthy red-blooded male I'm all in favor of table tennis women wearing more attractive clothes," wrote one blogger on a table tennis fan website.
"But I'm not in favor of them being pushed or coerced into wearing outfits they aren't comfortable to play in. And how about the men? Why not bring in compulsory lycra bike pants instead of the baggy shorts many men wear currently?
"I'm sure our female audience would appreciate it. And don't forget the umpires and referees - a little black and white striped skintight number with sequins would surely boost ratings."
Sex, sand and shoots raise Beijing Olympic temperature
BEIJING (AFP) - - From scantily-clad, gyrating go-go dancers at the beach volleyball to Germany's finest hockey player baring all for a steamy photo-shoot, sex sells at the Olympics"For me it was a good opportunity, and maybe when I look back after a few years I will be proud of it," said the 25-year-old.
"Not everybody can go on the cover of Playboy. I did it because I am confident of my body and myself. It wasn't a group decision, we haven't seen each other. The shooting was separate. Everyone decided it for themselves."
Other pin-ups of the Games have also been happy to pose in and out of competition.
US swimmer Amanda Beard was naked in Playboy last year and made headlines in Beijing even before the Games started, when she used the Athletes' Village as a backdrop to unveil a nude photo of herself in a poster backing an anti-animal cruelty cause.
In the advertisement, a naked Beard is kneeling in water, her left hand covering her right breast and her right hand on her right hip as she stares into the camera with a huge American flag filling the entire background.
"I've done Playboy. I'm comfortable with my body," Beard said of her willingness to shed her clothes for a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals anti-fur campaign. "I go to the office in a swimsuit."
Her form in the pool was not so striking as she failed to qualify for the 200m breastroke final.
Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice, who was a triple gold medallist in Beijing, opted for a series of raunchy shots in FHM after causing a sensation in April when her personal website featured her dressed in a tight-fitting, policewoman's uniform.
"She's thoughtful and not the least bit full of herself," her manager Lisa Stallard said in her client's defence.
Such is the high profile of the Games, and the insatiable demand for information driven by the Internet, that countless polls and picture spreads exist detailing the attractions of athletes of choice.
The News-Herald in Melbourne named Australian triathlete Erin Densham as its "hottest woman of the Games" with German swimmer Britta Steffen, a double gold medallist, at number three.
Their number two, world number one tennis player Ana Ivanovic, never played in Beijing because of injury.
The Sun in Britain, traditionally feverishly nationalistic and weary of all things European, named the German Playboy four as their favourites.
Their reporters have also enjoyed watching what they've dubbed the Peach Volleyball at Chaoyang Park where game intervals are filled by energetic routines performed by a troupe of bikini-clad dancers.
"We're used to it. Whether domestically or internationally we have dancing girls with us," said US player Misty May-Treanor.
"They are working hard and are part of what we do. In the US we normally have five and I dance with them. Here it's an army."
