By Sportswriter Zhang Han

    BEIJING, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Having avoided an early meeting with all-mighty China, the second-seeded German table tennis players are dreaming of a team medal, or even gold, in the Beijing Olympics.

    "We are all in our best form," said Dimitrij Ovtcharov after Sunday's training session in Peking University Gymnasium. "We hope to win a medal, maybe even gold,"

    Germany, as a second seed, was drawn into Group B with Singapore, Croatia and Canada.

    "It's great that we are seeded second, which means we will not meet China for a while," said Ovtcharov, the youngest among the German team.

    The Olympic table tennis tournament is slated for Aug. 13-23.

    Ovtcharov jumped to fame after stunning the world No. 3 Wang Liqin of China and his compatriot Timo Boll at the ITTF ProTour in South Korea two months ago.

    Ovtcharov, who will turn 20 in early September, has rocketed to No. 14 on the world rankings.

    German top player Timo Boll is imbued with confidence too.

    "I'm in quite good shape and I hope I can challenge the Chinese," said the 27-year-old.

    Boll is currently ranked sixth in the world, right behind the Chinese quartet of Wang Hao, Ma Lin, Ma Long and Wang Liqin, and Vladimir Samsonov from Belarus. He combined with Christian Suss to win the men's doubles silver at the 2005 world championships.

    "It (the silver medal) surely gave us confidence and experience," said Suss. "I think it will be even better if we get one more in this Olympics."

    "Boll gives me many chances to attack. He is a really nice guy and a lot of fun.

    The German trio practiced doubles on Sunday, with Suss pairing with Ovtcharov.

    When commenting on China's home court advantage, Boll agreed to the common comparision with a double-edge sword.

    "It depends on each individual player," he said. "It may be an advantage for me because they will be under so much pressure. It can also be a disadvantage as they are too motivated. They will be big heroes if they win here."