Everybody is excited about this summer's World Cup in Germany, but before that takes place there is another international tournament being held in the same country.
The World Table Tennis Championship opens April 24 in Bremen and continues until April 30. Table tennis is a professional competitive sport in China and Europe, and many teams in those regions have Japanese players.
The most famous Japanese competitor is Ai Fukuhara, the intense teenager who played for a time in China and who will be the star attraction of the Japan women's team in Bremen. Most of TV Tokyo's extensive coverage of the tournament, which begins April 24 at 7 p.m. and continues nightly at different times, will be of Ai-chan's games.