European champion Timo Boll of Germany, seen as a major threat to China’s dominance at the Yokohama World Table Tennis Championships, has pulled out injured.

Boll, 28, cited a back problem which forced him out of the doubles event with Christian Suss last week.

“I cannot play with half of my force. That doesn’t make sense,” said Boll.

German men’s team coach Richard Prause explained that Boll’s pain had worsened in the last few days.

“We’ve tried but it has become even worse in the last days,” he said. “Of course Timo is sad because he was generally in good shape recently but we have to look forward.”

Boll’s absence means that China’s Wang Liqin, the defending singles champion and three-time winner of the title, becomes the fourth seed.

Wang Liqin’s Chinese national team compatriots Wang Hao, Ma Lin and Ma Long are the top three seeds for men’s single event.

The championships got underway yesterday with the qualifying rounds ahead of the main draw starting tomorrow.

Agencies