YOKOHAMA, Japan: The invincible Chinese paddlers, led by the men's and women's world No 1s Wang Hao and Zhang Yining, are ready to dominate the world table tennis championships that start Tuesday.

There were all-Chinese finals in the five events at the 2007 championships in Zagreb as well as the Beijing Olympics last year with Ma Lin and Zhang Yining winning the singles gold medals at home.

They lost only the men's singles title to Werner Schlager of Austria in the 2003 Paris championships, while Timo Boll and Christian Suss of Germany were the only finalists in the 2005 championships men's doubles in Shanghai.

China has also monopolized all the other titles in the past decade.

Two-time Olympic silver medallist Wang Hao, Beijing Olympic champion Ma Lin, 2008 Pro Tour Grand Finals winner Ma Long and three-time former world champion Wang Liqin will spearhead the men's singles field.

Wang Liqin has been struggling as he failed to get past a Chinese qualifying competition, while Ma Lin had an injury during the same competition, leaving Wang Hao and Ma Long as the top favourites.

Ma Long defeated Wang Liqin, Ma Lin and Wang Hao to win the Grand Finals in December last year.

South Korean players are expected to have the best chance of breaking through the Chinese barrier with Ryu Seung-Min, Oh Sang-Eun and 2003 world silver medallist Joo Se-Hyuk all posing a threat.

Austria's Schlager has withdrawn from the event, saying he wanted to spend time with his family after his partner had a baby in February.

Meanwhile, world No 4, Germany's Boll, has pulled out of the doubles citing an injury, casting doubt on his singles medal chance.

World No 6, Belarusian Vladimir Samsonov, the 1997 runner-up in Manchester where he defeated four Chinese players, must regain his top form.

In the women's singles, Zhang Yining, defending champion Guo Yue and runner-up Li Xiaoxia, as well as Grand Finals winner Guo Yan, will top the four quarters.

To the disappointment of fans, two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Li Jia Wei of Singapore will skip the championships following her marriage in Beijing on April 25.

Other players with a chance of beating the Chinese include Athens Olympic bronze medallist Kim Kyung-Ah of South Korea, Beijing Olympic quarter-finalist Feng Tianwei of Singapore and Hong Kong's Tie Yana and Jiang Huajun.

Japan's medal hopeful Sayaka Hirano and Ai Fukuhara, as well as Wu Jiaoduo of Germany and Liu Jia of Austria still have to improve.