2021 Houston World Table Tennis Championships, if you say who is the most disappointing athlete, many fans may know Chen Meng, after all, she is only one world table tennis singles champion can achieve a Grand Slam, however, Chen Meng was tragically reversed by Wang Manyu in the semi-finals and missed the final, and the fastest Grand Slam in history passed by.
But in fact, the most disappointing to the fans is not Chen Meng, but a Japanese athlete, he is Zhang Benzhihe.
Born in 2003, Zhang Benzhihe was 18 years old at the Houston World Table Tennis Championships, and this is Zhang Benzhihe's third world table tennis trip.
At the Houston World Table Tennis Championships, because Ma Long and Xu Xin did not participate, Zhang Benzhihe became the second seed second only to Fan Zhendong and was automatically divided into the second half.
In the entire second half of the region, the Chinese men's table tennis only has Zhou Qihao, which is an excellent opportunity for Zhang Benzhihe to reach the final.
However, zhang Benzhihe lost in the second round of the men's singles!
After losing, Zhang Benzhihe was very disappointed and couldn't help but shed tears.
Looking back at the three World Table Tennis Championships that Zhang Benzhihe participated in, it will be found that the best performance in the singles competition of the World Table Tennis Championships was actually when he participated in the World Table Tennis Championships for the first time.
In 2017, Zhang Benzhi, who was only 14 years old at the time, participated in the World Table Tennis Championships for the first time, defeated Mizutani Hayabusa, the brother of Japanese men's table tennis at the time, in the quarterfinals, and strongly entered the men's singles quarterfinals, but in the quarterfinals, he lost to China's Xu Xin.
In 2019, Zhang Benzhi, who was 16 years old at the time, participated in the World Table Tennis Championships for the second time, and although Zhang Benzhihe was only 16 years old at the time, Zhang Benzhihe was already known as the strongest opponent of Chinese men's table tennis. Before the game, the slogan of winning the championship was also issued.
At that time, Zhang Benzhihe was also divided into the lower half of the zone, after the Chinese player Xu Xin was out early, Zhang Benzhihe should be able to reach the final if he played steadily, but Zhang Benzhihe lost to South Korea's Ahn Jae-hyun in the 1/8 final.
By the 2021 Houston World Table Tennis Championships, Zhang Benzhihe was even worse off, and he was out in the second round of men's singles.
Such a result not only disappointed the fans, but even Zhang Benzhi and himself were very disappointed.
When Zhang Benzhihe talked about his early exit, he admitted that he was not in a good state, and the loss was mainly his own reason, so he was not surprised by the loss.
Zhang Benzhihe, who was out, thought that he was not decisive enough to play, nor was he very active, "The opponent is also strong, looking back at the game, I think this is the embodiment of my current strength." ”
It can be seen that today's Zhang Benzhihe has no sharp edge when he first debuted, and many times, Zhang Benzhihe regards Chinese men's table tennis as the most important opponent, but whether in the Olympic Games or in the World Table Tennis Championships, Zhang Benzhihe has not walked in front of the Chinese team and has been out of the game in advance.
Zhang Benzhi and the current situation are somewhat similar to Fukuhara Ai in those days.
In 2003, when the then 14-year-old Ai Fukuhara participated in the World Table Tennis Championships for the first time, he performed very amazingly, when Ai Fukuhara was only 91 in the world ranking, but when he played against Li Jiawei in the quarterfinals, he broke out a big cold.
At that time, Li Jiawei could be said to be the strongest enemy of Chinese women's table tennis, and she almost defeated Wang Nan at the Sydney Olympic Games.
However, the 14-year-old Fukuhara Ai was not timid against Li Jiawei, with a squat serve, coupled with two-sided attack, and extremely fast speed, Li Jiawei was overwhelmed, and in the end, Fukuhara Ai defeated Li Jiawei 4-2 and reached the women's singles quarterfinals of the World Table Tennis Championships.
However, no one would have thought that the women's singles quarterfinals of the World Table Tennis Championships this time actually became Ai Fukuhara's best result in the World Table Tennis Championships, and since then, Ai Fukuhara has participated in many World Table Tennis Championships, but has never reached the quarterfinals.
The current Zhang Benzhihe is very similar to the original Fukuhara Ai, who also became famous at a young age, and also reached the quarterfinals of the World Table Tennis Championships at the age of 14, but his results since then have not been as good as once.
This also inevitably makes fans worry, will Zhang Benzhihe become the second Fukuhara Ai?