Great changes often begin with the smallest changes.
The recent world table tennis scene is permeated with a natural, faint smell of "new and old", just like the season we are in now, spring is unexpected, and vitality sprouts.
Within the scope of the world table tennis scene, the rise of the new generation, visible to the naked eye, is happening.
1. European Round of 16
At the end of February, in the European Table Tennis Round of 16 in Montreux, Switzerland, 23-year-old Slovenian Dakoto defeated 20-year-old Swedish rising star Moregód 4:3, not only becoming the first Slovenian in history to receive this award, but also taking the lead in this new generation of European youth showdown!
Zhang Ailing said: "To be famous, be early"!
In the European table tennis world, where the general instrument is late, the 20-year-old Moregaud, who has emerged, is definitely early, and the 23-year-old Dacco who won gold is not too late.
It is worth mentioning that this men's singles final is the "youngest final" in the history of the European Round of 16 so far, and the two players are only 43 years old.
Such a youthful duel, I believe that even the 41-year-old German veteran Ball, who has been defeated by Moregaard twice in a row, will be happy from the bottom of his heart.
Sometimes, "successors" are more hopeful than "old and strong".
2. LION Cup Japan Table Tennis Round of 32
On March 6, the final ranking of the 2022 LION Cup Japan Table Tennis Round of 32 was decided, and Zhang Benzhihe and Hatada Ji Na won the men's and women's singles championships and qualified for the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships. It is very surprising that Ishikawa Yoshinori and Hirano Miyu, who have played for the Japanese women's team for more than ten years, were not selected.
In particular, Ishikawa Yoshijun, who is loved by Chinese fans, won the first match of Hirano Miyu in the 5-8 qualifying match, but injured his foot, and then had no choice but to withdraw from the final with Ito Mimachi, completely losing the qualification, which was the first time in 15 years since the 2007 World Table Tennis Championships in Zagreb that he was absent from the Japanese World Table Tennis Championships lineup.
The women's singles final was played between 22-year-old Himena Hayata and 20-year-old Mizu Nagasaki, and the same as the Dako and Xiaomo men's singles finals, Hayata also won the championship in three consecutive sets after falling behind by a large score.
Ito Mimako, who became famous very early, had a feeling of being "patted on the beach", losing to Miyu Nagasaki in the quarterfinals, but with the all-Japan Championship champion, she became the only lucky person who survived the three players of the Japanese women's team to compete in the Tokyo Olympic Games.
After losing, Ito said helplessly, "I don't know how to score in the game, I can't move my feet, I can't move my brain." ”
After several consecutive competition results were unsatisfactory, 22-year-old Ito Mimachi suddenly "got a little old"!
3. Singapore WTT Grand Slam
Singapore WTT Grand Slam, the start is just around the corner.
As one of the highest level of the "Four Slams" in the WTT series, it has the highest prize money officially certified, and it is also the first stop in the "Four Slams", which is of extraordinary significance.
On the Chinese side, there are two small details that stand out: one is that among the 16 players who have been confirmed to participate in the competition, 17-year-old Lin Shidong is among them, spanning at least one generation; second, in the Singapore WTT Grand Slam Qualifier, which has already started, 19-year-old Xiang Peng and 18-year-old Ku Man, who participated through wild cards, are two consecutive victories to advance to the main tournament.
In the days when the 22-year-old Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha were still struggling, Lin Shidong, Xiang Peng, and Ku Man had begun to "seize power".
If the echelon construction of the Chinese team for the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, the men's team is somewhat "conservative", and the women's team is somewhat "seedling-fueled", then the current echelon construction is more like the natural change brought about by the team's own metabolism, and the trend of young people "rising up" is like a spring bud breaking out of the ground, young and irrepressible.
Winter is over and spring isn't far away. The new forces of table tennis have slowly grown, and the "spring" of the world table tennis is not far away!