As the first player in the history of the Olympic Games to defend the men's table tennis championship, Ma Long has become a legend, and in terms of results, it is a legend that surpasses Liu Guoliang, Kong Linghui, Zhang Jike and other players. Despite being 33 years old, the story of the legend continues and does not end. A few days ago, the CCTV program also did a special issue about Ma Long, and among them, we also saw the image of Ma Long once shaving his head when treating injuries. In the face of CCTV cameras, the Dragon Team also confided his heart, and along the way, he paid too much for the Olympic defense.
There are very few players over 30 years old who can still firmly occupy the main force, after all, the competition in our team is too fierce, which is very different from European teams. Waldner, Persson, Ochalov, Bol, Samsonov and others are able to continue playing at a very old age because they don't need to worry too much about the impact of young players. But we are different, veterans are easily beaten by the top young players, so once over 30 years old, it is difficult to continue to secure the main position in the team. But Malone is an exception, he is a late bloomer, the peak of his career is very long.
Ma Long's career did not start smoothly, and he repeatedly lost to his big brother Wang Hao in the semi-finals, and Wang Hao lost to Zhang Jike in the final. In this way, Zhang Jike, who was born in the same year, became the creator of the fastest Grand Slam record in the history of national table tennis, while Ma Long has not yet won the singles championship of the World Table Tennis Championships and the Olympic Games. It wasn't until 2015 that Malone won his first World Table Tennis Championships singles title. But then, the world table tennis entered the era of Ma Long, the Dragon team won three consecutive championships in the World Table Tennis Championships, defended the men's singles champion at the Olympic Games, and was called the first man in the history of national table tennis.
A few days ago, CCTV Olympic Channel produced a special program about Ma Long. In the show, the image of Malone shaving his head while treating injuries was also exposed. Malone once explained that he shaved his hair to start over. Malone's hair in the video grew a little bit, and the usual long-haired Malone looked exactly like two people, but what remained unchanged was the fortitude and optimism in his eyes. Even in the recovery period of treating injuries, Malone is smiling, optimistic and determined. At his age, it is very difficult to make a comeback and start again.
Malone also said on the show that he once doubted whether he could return to the ranks of the best contestants. But through his own efforts, Ma Long still achieved the return of the king and successfully defended his title by defeating Fan Zhendong in the Olympic final. In the face of CCTV footage, Ma Long confided his heart: Ma Long, you are more powerful than you imagined yourself! This sentence makes people sound very sad, but also very touching, the Dragon team's words are full of his efforts to defend the Olympic champion along the way, which is unimaginable difficult for ordinary people. But Malone still did it, which is the temperament and demeanor of the national table tennis captain!
After the Olympics, Malone chose to recuperate and did not compete in the World Table Tennis Championships. Fan Zhendong won the world table tennis championships, and young players such as Wang Chuqin and Liang Jingkun also played well. We have seen the growth of the younger generation of national table tennis, but they want to reach the height of Malone, I am afraid that there is still a long way to go.