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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18-- The spacious basketball court in John Wooden Center of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) was strewn with small white balls Saturday afternoon. One hundred lucky spectators invited from sports clubs around the LA area oohed and aahed as hundreds of tiny white plastic ping pong balls whizzed, bounced and yes, pinged, from two long rows of green tables to the red-carpeted floor as the China and U.S. national table tennis teams participated in a historic joint-training session. In a historic first and at the invitation of the United States Table Tennis Association (USATT) and the U.S. Olympic Committee, China's national table tennis team - the reigning world champions by any standard - has come to LA from August 5th to 25th to practice with the U.S. national table tennis team. Visiting luminaries include Olympic Champions Ding Ning, Ma Long and a superb elite coaching staff of former world champions and Gold medal Olympians. Virginia Sung, CEO of USATT, is thrilled about what this historic opportunity means for her players. "When you play with the best of the best, there is so much to learn," she told Xinhua. "Our U.S. players will learn what it takes to be the best in the world: the technique, discipline, and a fresh perspective on how much dedication, hard work and sacrifice is required to stand on top of the mountain." Kai Zhang, a member of the U.S. men's national team, told Xinhua, "The Chinese team knows a lot more than the U.S. team about table tennis techniques and the psychological aspects of the game, so we can learn a lot from them." | 
