Since the second half of last year, the national table tennis Grand Slam veteran Ma Long has gradually left the arena and voluntarily abandoned the top duels such as the National Games singles, the Houston World Table Tennis Championships, and the Singapore WTT World Cup final, and many fans have questioned: Does the coaching staff no longer pay attention to him?
But this is obviously not the case - not long ago, Ma Long officially returned to the team to participate in training, and the head coach of the men's team, Qin Zhijian, personally served as a driver for the disciple, which shows that the veteran's status in national table tennis is still very high, and the mentorship between the two has also touched fans and friends.
Friends who are familiar with Ma Long know that he became a disciple of Qin Zhijian shortly after entering the national team, and the cooperation between the two lasted for more than ten years.
Although Ma Long is a right-handed horizontal shooting two-sided anti-glue play, and Qin Zhijian is a left-handed direct one-sided anti-glue athlete during the athlete period, the difference in playing style does not hinder the exchange and communication between them, and finally Qin Zhijian witnessed Ma Long's step-by-step growth into a great legend in the history of table tennis, and also achieved a good story of master-apprentice cooperation in table tennis.
In 2021, Malone was in very good shape, defending two Olympic gold medals in a row, but he still took the initiative to give up the decision to participate in the World Table Tennis Championships, leaving more opportunities to the younger generation, although this kind of high-wind and bright festival behavior is admirable, but it still makes many fans who like him feel pity.
But no matter what, the friendship between Ma Long and Qin Zhijian has not changed because of this, even if the former has now achieved fame, marriage and children, but Qin Zhijian still takes care of him like a child: a day as a teacher still has the saying of a lifelong father, not to mention that Qin Zhijian has brought Ma Long for so many years!
After entering 2022, the debate over whether Malone will retire has not stopped - he can certainly choose not to announce his retirement, but if he does not participate in official competitions at home and abroad, it will be no different from retiring.
Since the upcoming Macau Tournament is also a WTT regular event that is not recognized by the World Table Tennis Federation, Ma Long's joining cannot release a clear signal of his future career planning, but no matter what choices he makes in the future, we hope that this national table tennis hero can find the most suitable development path for himself and win more wonderful life: come on, Dragon Team!