In April 1959, in the men's singles final of the 25th World Table Tennis Championships held in Dortmund, Germany, Chinese table tennis player Rong Guotuan won the men's singles championship, becoming the first world champion in the sports field of New China.
Born in Hong Kong on August 10, 1937, His father, Yung Mian, was forced to work as a child laborer at the age of 15, and later worked as a seafarer in a steamship company and participated in the provincial strike in Hong Kong. Rong Mianzhi wanted the country to be strong and united, so he named his only son "Guotuan".
Due to his family's poverty, Yung Dropped out of school from an early age and worked as a child labourer at a fishing shop in Hong Kong's Eastern District to support his family. Yung's uncle was an amateur table tennis player, and under the influence of his uncle, the young Yung Began to contact table tennis, and gradually showed amazing talent, made rapid progress, and soon became the top table tennis player in Hong Kong.
In September 1957, Rong Guotuan represented the Hong Kong and Macao table tennis teams to Beijing to play an exhibition match with the Chinese national team. At that time, he had just recovered from a serious illness, but with his superb skills, he still defeated several of the main players in the Chinese table tennis team at that time. In the end, although Rong Guotuan gave up the fight with Jiang Yongning, China's first men's table tennis national champion due to physical weakness, his superb skills still deeply shocked the audience. On that day, Marshal He Long also went to the scene to watch the game, and after the game, he suggested that Rong Guotuan join the Chinese national men's table tennis team and play for the country. In November of that year, Rong Guotuan entered the Guangzhou Institute of Physical Education to study.
In April 1959, at the 25th World Table Tennis Championships, the 22-year-old Rong Guotuan won the championship in one fell swoop. Back in the motherland, he was treated like a national hero: He Long, then vice premier of the State Council, personally greeted him at the airport; Premier Zhou Enlai even called this victory together with the ten-year National Day, which shows the extraordinary significance and great influence of Rong Guotuan's victory.
In 1961, the 26th World Table Tennis Championships was held in Beijing, and the Chinese and Japanese teams fought fiercely in the men's team final. Rong Guotuan lost two sets first, and then Xu Yinsheng and Zhuang Zedong tied the score. Before the final round, Rong Guotuan threw off the towel and shouted: "How many beats can there be in life!" Don't beat at this time, let alone when! ”
At the beginning of the final round, Rong Guotuan and Japan's Hoshino first two sets were tied 1:1, in the decider, Rong Guotuan led all the way, playing to 20:18, Hoshino tried to save the defeat, desperately sideways continuous arc circle ball, but was blocked by Rong Guotuan one by one, after six or seven rounds, Hoshino pulled the ball out of bounds, and the Chinese team finally won the Men's Team Championship of the World Table Tennis Championships for the first time!
At the end of 1964, Rong Guotuan became the coach of the national women's team and joined the Communist Party of China in 1965. In April 1965, at the 28th World Table Tennis Championships held in Yugoslavia, he led and directed Liang Lizhen, Li Henan, Lin Huiqing and Zheng Minzhi to win the women's team, women's doubles and mixed doubles championships, once again sensationalizing the world table tennis world.
Rong Guotuan used his hard work and dedication to bring vitality to the Chinese table tennis sport, and made it take root in China, deep roots and fruitful. At the same time, he also laid the foundation of the Chinese table tennis team's "fast and accurate change" and planted the genes of the Chinese table tennis captain.