<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="60" > 2021/204 original</h1>
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="61" > Author: Yang Lei</h1>
This article is a comprehensive article on the table tennis events of the Tokyo Olympics at the request of Table Tennis World magazine, which will be published in october 2021 magazine. It is now the first release of the whole network for everyone to evaluate and discuss.
The first part (part I, the five tastes of the Tokyo Olympics) talked about mixed doubles and women's singles, and this time we continued to talk about the Tokyo story of men's singles, women's groups and boy bands.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="63" > Men's Singles: Legendary Youth Invincible</h1>
Today's men's table tennis world - not changed, has been replaced.
The Dragons, who won 4-2 in the men's singles final, achieved a "double-round Grand Slam" that no one could have before or after, and was the first male player in history to defend the Olympic men's singles championship. Malone used super self-discipline, super perseverance, superhuman strength and a heavy Olympic men's singles gold medal to tell all competitors that his era is far from over, "You guys, you can't win me"!
Assar took Zhuang Zhiyuan, Jeong Young-sik eliminated Pol... On one side are slightly unfamiliar names, on the other side are familiar famous players, but the victory or defeat is exactly the opposite of expectations. German star Bohr said in an interview after the men's team final: "I am 40 years old, I can still play today, but at some key moments, I have some inability to keep up with the speed in front of the best players. On July 9, less than half a month after the start of the Tokyo Olympics, the 45-year-old Samsonov decided to end his career and officially announced his retirement. Pol is no longer young, the old Sa is nearly half a hundred, and "an era" may really be over.
The dynasty has not changed, but the surging power has never stopped. There are three most iconic matches, the two epic semi-finals and the final Dragon Fat Peak Showdown.
The two semi-finals of Fan Zhendong vs Lin Yunru and Ma Long vs Ochalov were called "the most wonderful men's singles semifinals in Olympic history", which is no exaggeration.
In the first game, Fan Zhendong played 7 full innings, took 1 hour and 25 minutes, scored a total of 75:75, and after five innings played 9:9, one of the sets was 14:12 and the first set was 13:15, winning 4-3 with difficulty, and what was breathtaking was that Lin Yunru, a 20-year-old Chinese Taipei youngster, had both the determination to fight to the end, and the strength to attack the city and pull out the wall, and the future was unlimited.
In the other game, Malone also went through 7 innings, took 1 hour and 21 minutes, five innings were 8 points after the victory, the last set in the Malone 10:7 hand with three match points, Ocharov scored 2 points in a row, after a strong pull on a board, Malone crossed the level 11:9, the total score of the seven innings was 69:68, and Malone only won one more point. The winning Dragons were unusual, waving their arms and roaring, shouting out the powerful and domineering declaration - "He (Ochah), can't win me"!
If you have a deep enough understanding of table tennis, you will find that no matter how long or short, regardless of the score, any Olympic final is a classic - it can withstand repeated viewing, multi-angle scrutiny, history and time tests, the more you see, the deeper the feeling.
Therefore, in the dragon fat duel, we not only saw the technical competition, tactical restraint, and on-the-spot response, but also saw the grasp of the fighter, the balance of fierceness, the adjustment of mentality, and also saw the transposition thinking, the control of the battle situation and the invisible aura.
The 20-year-old Lin Yunru did not defeat the 24-year-old Fan Zhendong, the 33-year-old Ochalov was defeated by the 33-year-old Ma Long, and the 24-year-old Fan Zhendong still did not cross the 33-year-old Ma Long, whether it was the youth duel, the veteran competition, or the collision between the old and the new, it was the "elder" who defeated the "young".
However, from another perspective, from 24-year-old Fan Zhendong to 20-year-old Lin Yunru, and even 18-year-old Zhang Benzhihe, the youthful trend of "crown challengers" has become more and more obvious, and the upward trend has become unstoppable.
Maybe they are not capable enough to hold the bull's ear at present, but youth has no limits, youth has not failed, and in time, the next Grand Slam may be among them.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="64" > girl group: there is a thrilling multi-core era</h1>
On August 1, on the day when all the table tennis competitions were over and the team competition was about to start, a shocking news came from Tokyo: Liu Shiwen withdrew from the team competition due to a recurrence of an elbow injury, and P card player Wang Manyu took the place. This is the first time that the Chinese table tennis team has used P card players in the Olympic games, and we are both sorry for the veteran Liu Shiwen's injury and worry about the young player Wang Manyu who is about to be appointed.
Wang Manyu is a good seedling, a hope star who can be called "double pride" with Sun Yingsha, and it is estimated that even she herself did not expect that she would not have to wait for Paris three years later, and in Tokyo she would stand directly from "off-field" to "field". Many people had worried that she was in danger of being ordered, afraid of her hands and feet, and could not be opened, but I really did not expect that Wang Manyu you were actually "such a girl"! Soft on the outside and tough on the inside, with its own aura, both are good at single and double, 7 battles and 7 victories. In particular, in the final of the China-Japan women's team, the first women's doubles match with Chen Meng won Yoshinori Ishikawa / Miyu Hirano 3-1, opening the record, and the third singles game won 3-0 against Miyu Hirano to seal the victory for the Chinese team. Wang Manyu is definitely a "windfall" for national table tennis in Tokyo.
Look at Chen Meng again. Some fans believe that "Chen Meng's singles have been smooth sailing, he did not meet a strong player, and in the final he met his teammate Sun Yingsha, who knew the roots and had always had the upper hand, and was lucky to win the championship." In fact, there has never been happiness in the world that has fallen from the sky. If Chen Meng did not qualify for the competition in the cruel team, if Chen Meng lost the chain in the front of the competition, where is the oldest Olympic women's singles champion in history, Chen Meng? Maybe the era that really belongs to her has not yet fully arrived, don't worry, keep up the good work, your time may not be far away!
Finally, let's talk about the two most brilliant people in the Tokyo Olympic women's line: Sun Yingsha and Ito Mimachi.
The two are both tit-for-tat rivals and "friends" who have achieved each other. Objectively speaking, we should thank Ito Mimako, who almost single-handedly raised the women's table tennis project, which was not hot, to the height of national attention. With its own Internet celebrity physique, highly recognizable magic serve, provocative action expressions in mixed doubles matches, and all kinds of endless and nerve-stimulating remarks... Let Ito quickly "go out of the circle" and become a "public enemy". In the women's singles semifinals, Sun Yingsha kept a clean sheet with Mimako Ito, and after the game, Ito Mimachi "expected" pear blossoms with rain, full of dissatisfaction. Fortunately, each other did not have to wait too long, the women's team final Sun Yingsha touched Ito Mimako again, the knife fell in her hand, and won 3-1 again, achieving "one double kill"!
Some fans may not understand why Sun Yingsha became the "uncrowned king" and has a higher prestige than singles champion Chen Meng.
Because Sun Yingsha, as a 21-year-old girl, used her young and strong arms, in the most difficult moment of national table tennis, one person carried the entire Chinese women's table tennis, and blew the horn of the Chinese team's Jedi counterattack with a cardiotonic victory.
In summing up the Tokyo Olympics, Liu Guoliang praised Sun Yingsha as "a very clean heart, a non-entangled personality, an idol of the new era and a new star in China's sports world."
Yes, only those who are pure in heart and have no distracting thoughts can face the burden of a thousand pounds without hesitation due to gain and loss, and know that the sword and the mountain are in the sea of fire and move forward. Sun Yingsha's excellence is truly worthy of the name.
We expect more "Ito Mimachi" to appear in the world table tennis world, and the king status of the Chinese table tennis team has never been defended, but played one by one. The truly strong in any field have never been afraid of strong opponents and fierce competition, because they know that success in the true sense must be strong because of competition, although they are indomitable, they are reborn through fire, and they will eventually be brilliant after suffering!
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="65" > boy band: a super strong prosperous world of hidden worries</h1>
Realistically speaking, regardless of the men's and women's teams, the Chinese team has an advantage in the team competition. In the world table tennis arena, the big pattern of the Chinese team's "one super strong" has not changed fundamentally in at least the past decade.
However, under the prosperous era, the Chinese team also has hidden worries, especially the men's team, the replacement speed of the new and old is slow, and in recent years, "a set of people and horses have hit the world". The Tokyo Olympics, China, Germany, Japan and South Korea gathered in the final four to catch and kill. Under China's "one superpower", Germany, Japan and South Korea "killed the three kingdoms", and if they did not obey, they would do it, and it was good to look at.
In the showdown between China and South Korea, the outside is "loose" and the inside is "tight". Before the semi-finals of the men's team, the South Korean team was "as strong as a cow", Lee Sang-so said: "We came to Tokyo to win the gold medal, I don't think there is a team in the world that we can't beat", Zhang Yuzhen said: "Chinese players are in a position of being challenged, the burden is greater", and Jung Young-sik said: "Chinese players are people, not the Great Wall". From the 1988 table tennis event to the Olympic Games, the heaviest men's singles gold medal, South Korea's number of championships second only to China, 1988 Seoul Liu Namkui, 2004 Athens Liu Seung-min, the confidence of the Korean team stems from this achievement.
Of course, psychological warfare can be fought, and winning or losing ultimately depends on strength. Ma Long/ Xu Xin beat Lee Sang-so / Jeong Young-sik 3-0, Fan Zhendong beat Zhang Yuzhen 3-0, Ma Long beat Lee Sang-so 3-2, the big score was 3-0, which seemed easy, but in fact, the crazy fight between Lee Sang-so and Jang Woo-jin in the tail game still makes people feel uneasy.
The Korean team has a very good tradition, the temperament of the game has always been consistent - always eager for victory, running unremittingly for victory, always full of blood, always fighting to the end, no matter how many times you have lost, the next time you stand opposite you or dare to play with your life! Such a Korean team, admirable and admirable, will always be a strong team in the world table tennis world that makes any opponent have respect.
Germany and Japan dialogue, tough battles. Pol/Francesca beat Mizutani Hayabusa/Takashi Niwa 3-2, Ochalov lost 1-3 to Tomokazu Zhang, Bol defeated Mizutani Hayabusa 3-1, Francesca lost 2-3 to Tomokazu Zhang, Ocharoff beat Takashi Niwa 3-0, germany narrowly beat Japan 3-2. Zhang Benzhi and quan took two points and did everything they could, especially in the case of passive opening, reversing Ocharov and Francesca. The Japanese team eventually lost, losing in comprehensive strength, and Zhang could have left with his head held high.
Japan and South Korea PK, Hedong Hexi. For a long time, the Japanese men's team can not be the same day as the Korean men's team, South Korea has Yoo Seung-min, Wu Shang-yu, Zhu Shihe's super luxurious lineup, casually draw one, can hang Japan No. 1, at that time Han Yang, Yoshida Haiwei, Kishikawa Seiya, Matsudaira Kenta did not have absolute strength. From the appearance of Mizutani Hayabusa, the balance of victory and defeat between Japan and South Korea began to swing again, with the emergence of Niwa Takashi, the "Generation Plan" Zhang Benzhi and the emergence of the world, the Japanese team finally grew into a "complete body" with the strength to compete for medals, until this local battle, defeated the long-lost opponent South Korea team 3-1, and once again stood on the Olympic team podium after Rio.
The decisive battle between China and Germany, defending the king. From the perspective of platoon deployment, Ma Long vs Ochalov, Fan Zhendong vs Pol, Xu Xin vs. Francesca, xiangsheng Xiangke, there is a sense of fate in the dark, and on the surface, the Chinese team is the dominant side in strength. Of course, the final will never be smooth sailing, but the course of the game still confirms the fact that "the Chinese team is dominant". Ma Long / Xu Xin beat Pol 3-0 / Francesca, Fan Zhendong defeated Ochalov 3-2, Ma Long won 3-1 against Pol, "Made in China" defeated "German Chariot", once again defending the kingship of Chinese men's table tennis.
During the thrilling men's final, two athletes made my mind jump out of the field for a while.
One is Fan Zhendong, after the loss of the men's singles final, the pain is hidden in the heart, it is difficult to be detected, that is, the great sense of loss after doing his best and watching the opportunity slip from hand, this pain is long-lasting and difficult to eliminate, only by relying on time and victory to slowly heal the injury. The stooped scream after the difficult victory over Ocha should be the starting point for him to start again;
The other is Pol, 40 years old Pol meets 33 years old Malone, a 73-year-old super senior duel, perhaps the last time the two meet at the Olympic arena, of course, it must also be at the highest level of the Olympic Games. From 2005 to 2021, how many people watched the duel between Malone and Pol and bid farewell to their youth, and this pair of old opponents for more than ten years has been sublimated from the "sword rattling" of flesh and blood to the "smile of pity".
Tokyo's Olympic flame has been extinguished, "victory and defeat" have been written into history, and "joy and sorrow" have been deeply rooted in the heart. The mixed doubles veteran who missed the first gold, the women's singles doubles who made their debut, the veteran dragon team that created the legend, the women's table tennis team that defeated Japan, and the more advanced men's group competition, left us with too many shocking moments. I believe that the Chinese table tennis team, a confident and domineering, courageous and unremitting master of the king, will internalize the memory of Tokyo into spirit and externalize into action, and bring us a different wonderful in Paris three years later!