HONGKONG table tennis star Chai Po-wa may have retired from competitions by the year 2000 but the current world number nine wants to be involved at the turn-of-the-century Olympic Games. China-born Chai is hoping that Beijing will win its bid for the 2000 Games and, to help ensure she will be part of the action, the 27-year-old recently took up coaching. ''It would be an honour for all Chinese for Beijing to host the Olympics and I don't want to miss it, whether it is as a player, a coach or a spectator,'' said Chai. ''I don't know when I will stop playing but in case I can't go as a player I would like to be there as a coach. No matter what happens to my career in table tennis I'll be there, even as a spectator.'' Chai, who came within a whisker of winning Hongkong's first ever Olympic medal in Barcelona last year when she reached the women's singles quarter-finals, said an Olympic Games is the experience of a lifetime. ''The Olympics are a very special and rare occasion and not every sportsman can make it to one. My feeling upon reaching Barcelona for the Olympics cannot be described with words, I was so happy and proud to be there,'' she said. ''I hope I can share this experience with everybody in China.'' Chai, who believes she has a few years yet at the top as a player, has taken two budding youngsters under her wing - seven-year-old Ho Chung-hei and his six-year-old sister, Chung-tai. Despite neither being far above the table in their first turn in the spotlight, at Yuen Wo Road Indoor Recreation Centre yesterday, they showed their talent during a demonstration by Chai and her national squad teammates Chan Tan-lui and Chan Suk-yuen. A delighted Chai said: ''I was hesitant when the parents asked me to coach the two kids but I was really surprised how quickly they picked up the game.
