Ma Long - Boll Timo vs Xu Xin - Zhang Jike

Hi. I watch the Ma Long - Boll Timo vs Xu Xin - Zhang Jike match. I confused, because Boll is from Germany and Ma is from China, but why they can be a pair in double even in a competition?

Hi Jason,

In World Tour events you can team up with players from a different country.  They also recently changed the rule so that you can play with players from a different country at the World Championships. You are not allowed to do this at the Olympics however.