The first week in China lies behind us. Today we fly from Wuhan to Guangzhou, our second destination on this trip. Next Monday the World Championships will begin here in the Tian He Indoor Gymnasium which can accommodate 10.000 wildly enthusiastic spectators. Samantha and I are scheduled to play at 3.20 PM (9.20 AM CET). Our opponents are the Irish brother and sister Magee. We are very much looking forward to this match.
It was quite a tough week here in Wuhan. Not so much because of the intensity of the workouts but mainly because of the heat which leaves its mark on daily life here. This seems to be an extreme heat wave for this area. During the day the temperature rises to well over 40ºC  (105ºF) and at night it hardly cools off. In the training hall it was mainly playing a few rallies, drinking lots of water and  drying your body playing a few rallies again drinking water again and so on till the end of a game when you could finally  flop down on a bench completely exhausted.  In this respect it was also good to be here because a body really needs a couple of days to get used to these extreme conditions and also to the food.
Apart from the temperature we have spent an exceptional week here. Jie was a great hostess who looked after us in a fantastic way and who was, thanks to her main sponsor, also able to make every possible arrangement. From food to a massage and from training courts to having your laundry done nothing was too much to ask. Jie, many many thanks for your great care. I really hope we may and can come back more often in the future.
A final farewell from Wuhan and now on to the World Championships!!!
