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Experienced Commonwealth Games and Olympic athlete Karen Li is set to lead a team of four New Zealand table tennis players to Delhi. Li will be heading to her third Commonwealth Games - she was a medalist in both doubles and teams events in 2002 - and is in top form.

With sister and four time Olympian Li Chunli as coach, New Zealand 's women's table tennis team is a contender for a medal in the teams event in Delhi . While 2010 World Teams champions Singapore is expected to be the stand-out performers in Delhi , New Zealand is one of the top six teams vying for medals with Karen Li playing a vital role.

Table Tennis New Zealand Director of High Performance, Murray Finch, says Karen Li's current performance level will give the Kiwi team an advantage. "Karen is one of the top players in the Commonwealth," he said. "As our top player, Karen will play two of the 5 matches in the teams event. She is in the form of her life and with four months preparation in China under her belt she will be a major force in the competition.

"The other major factor in our favour is the coach, Li Chunli. As a player, Chunli won three medals as a player in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, including gold in the women's singles. Having retired after the 2002 Games she was appointed coach for Melbourne and now Delhi."

New Zealand Olympic Committee secretary general and Commonwealth games team selector Barry Maister agrees Chunli is an asset and is looking forward to some fast-paced action in Delhi . "Li Chunli has a proven track record and is unbelievably positive," he said. "The team in Delhi will have the benefit of a coach who has got expertise in this level of competition and knows what is required."

The New Zealand players will also compete for individual medals and young player Jenny Hung from Christchurch is looking forward to an opportunity to perform at an elite level. "Jenny is just out of the junior grades where she was competing well. We'll be looking to see if she can translate this into the senior level at Delhi."

The team is rounded off with Sun Yang and Annie Yang both from Christchurch. Annie is currently living in France while playing professionally in the German league. Sun Yang, a defensive player, has been a solid performer at international level since she qualified to represent NZ in 2007. She will give the team a variety of styles and more depth than it had in 2006.

The table tennis team is:
Karen LI (33 at start of games), Auckland
Sun YANG (27) Christchurch
Chi-wen (Jenny) HUNG ( 19), Christchurch
Jiang (Annie) YANG (28) Christchurch