BEIJING, March 17 -- China's men's team will face tough opponents at the forthcoming World Table Tennis Team Championships in Bremen, Germany, which will start April 24.

    China and Sweden, the two teams that have dominated the Swaythling Cup for well over two decades, have been drawn in Group A. Also in the same group are European powerhouses Denmark and Romania.

    Host Germany faces low-ranked Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia and Norway in Group C.

    China has an easy draw in the women's competition. Chinese women paddlers, led by world No. 1 Zhang Yining, join Romania, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Serbia and India in the first group.

    Each of the groups plays in a round-robin event with the top team from each group going into the quarterfinals.