For Chinese table tennis players, perhaps the World Table Tennis Championships is the most difficult competition to win the championship, because there are many participants in this event, and there are more teammates, and if you want to win the championship, you must not only defeat many masters of foreign associations, but also defeat your teammates.
But if in the World Table Tennis Championships, they are divided into a half-zone, many fans will think that this is a good signing, after all, there are no teammates in them, and the strength of Chinese athletes is obviously stronger than the strength of players from foreign associations, so many people think that this is the best opportunity to reach the final.
But in fact, if you really draw a person to defend the half of the zone, in fact, the pressure is very large, and it is not a simple thing to reach the final.
In the Budapest World Table Tennis Championships, Xu Xin at that time drew such a unique lottery, when Ma Long, Fan Zhendong, Liang Jingkun and Lin Gaoyuan were all divided in the upper half, while Xu Xin was alone in the lower half.
Before the game, many fans believed that this was the best chance of Xu Xin's career to reach the final.
After all, before this, Xu Xin had participated in many singles competitions in the World Table Tennis Championships, but the best result was only to reach the final four, and this time, before the final, Xu Xin would not meet Chinese players at all, so for Xu Xin, it was indeed a good opportunity to reach the final.
After all, for Xu Xin at that time, the strongest opponents in the second half of the region should be the German veteran Bohr and Japan's Zhang Benzhihe.
However, Pol retired due to injury, and Zhang Benzhihe had never defeated Xu Xin before, so as long as Xu Xin could play his level normally, it was entirely possible to reach the men's singles final.
However, something unexpected happened, in the 32-16 match, Xu Xin faced France's Simon Gauts, and finally lost to the opponent 2-4, directly leading to the loss of the second half of the Chinese team, and he also became the only national table tennis player to lose the foreign war in that World Table Tennis Championships.
At this year's Houston World Table Tennis Championships, Zhou Qihao faced the same situation as Xu Xin that year, the difference is that Xu Xin was the second seed at the time, and at the Houston World Table Tennis Championships, Zhou Qihao ranked after 100 in the world.
Although Zhou Qihao's ranking is not high, fans generally believe that Zhou Qihao's strength is still far superior to that of players from foreign associations, after all, he has defeated ma long fan zhendong and other top masters.
German veteran Bohr even believes that Zhou Qihao has the strength to win the championship!
However, Zhou Qihao met the German veteran Bohr in the second round of the main tournament, facing the 40-year-old German veteran, Zhou Qihao's lack of experience in the game was infinitely magnified, and finally lost to the opponent with a score of 1-4, which is also after Xu Xin, the World Table Tennis Championships once again lost!
So, is it really so much pressure for one person to stay in the half zone alone?
At the 2017 World Table Tennis Championships, Ding Ning also defended the half zone alone! At that time, Li Falcon said of Ding Ning alone in the first half of the district: "I think it is still Ding Ning (the most difficult), because Ding Ning has to play until the final to meet Chinese athletes, so the burden on her shoulders is still the heaviest." Fight after fight, fight after fight, fight day after day, don't think about the back, because her task is really difficult. ”
You must know that at that time, Ding Ning once lost to Japan's Hirano Miyu in the Asian Championship, and this time, Hirano Miyu was also in the first half!
It was under this pressure that Ding Ning fought harder, defeating Miyu Hirano 4-1 in the women's singles semifinals!
In the final, Ding Ning faced Zhu Yuling, who defeated Liu Shiwen, and still performed very strongly, and finally defeated Zhu Yuling by a score of 4-2, winning the women's singles championship of the World Table Tennis Championships for the third time in her career!
Therefore, in a major competition like the World Table Tennis Championships, defending the half alone is a stress challenge for athletes, and it is indeed a good opportunity to reach the final or even win the championship.
Whether or not you can seize the opportunity, the most important thing is to look at the athlete's own strength and ability to resist pressure.
From the perspective of personal strength, Xu Xin does have the strength to reach the final, but at the critical moment, Xu Xin's ability to resist pressure is indeed lacking, which is the reason why Xu Xin left the half zone early.
And Zhou Qihao's early exit is not only a problem of anti-pressure ability, but also a certain lack of personal strength, which is the reason why Zhou Qihao left the game early.
The reason why Ding Ning was able to reach the final and finally win the championship in the case of defending the half zone was not only that Ding Ning was strong at that time, but also that the main reason was that Ding Ning's ability to resist pressure was very strong and his psychological quality was very stable.
And this is the most fundamental reason why Ding Ning has achieved a Grand Slam!