With the end of the WTT Singapore Grand Slam, the current national table tennis main force has collectively withdrawn from the WTT Doha Star Challenge and has now returned to China to prepare for the next competition.
According to the previous regulations of the Chinese Table Tennis Association on the selection of candidates for the Asian Games, the list of participants in the Asian Games is now ready to be released.
Let's take a look, which athletes can be shortlisted for the Asian Games?
Let's first look at the rules regarding singles qualification at the Asian Games.
The Chinese Table Tennis Association stipulates that athletes who win the WTT Singapore Grand Slam Men's and Women's Singles Championships and the athletes with the highest rankings in the world will directly qualify for the Asian Games.
In this way, Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng have directly qualified for the Asian Games.
But at the same time, Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng are also the highest-ranked athletes in the world in singles.
In this case, according to the rules of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, if the athlete who wins the Singapore Grand Slam singles championship and the athlete with the highest ranking in the world are the same person, it is postponed to the athlete who ranks second in singles.
According to the latest world rankings, Ma Long and Sun Yingsha currently rank second in the men's and women's singles respectively, so Ma Long and Sun Yingsha will also qualify for the Asian Games.
Let's take a look at the eligibility for the Asian Games team competition.
The Chinese Table Tennis Association stipulates that athletes who win the Singapore Grand Slam Men's and Women's Singles will be directly shortlisted for the Asian Games team participation list, in addition to the top three athletes in the world's highest ranking in singles will also be shortlisted.
At present, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long and Liang Jingkun in men's table tennis are ranked in the top three in the world, and the three of them will also qualify for the Asian Games.
In women's table tennis, Chen Meng, Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu won the top three places in the world rankings, and the three of them will qualify for the Asian Games as a team.
At the same time, the Chinese Table Tennis Association also stipulates that athletes born after January 1, 1999, the world's highest ranking athletes will also be eligible for the Asian Games.
In this way, Wang Chuqin of the men's team was born in 2000 and is currently ranked 12th in the world, and can also qualify for the Asian Games as a team.
As for the athletes born after January 1, 1999, Sun Yingsha is the highest ranking athlete in the world, but at the same time, Sun Yingsha is also one of the top three athletes in the world, so Sun Yingsha does not have to rely on this regulation to qualify for the Asian Games!
In this case, according to the rules, the athletes who have been shortlisted for the Asian Games can already be determined as follows:
In the men's team, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, Liang Jingkun and Wang Chuqin were successfully shortlisted for the Asian Games team lineup, while on the women's team, Chen Meng, Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu will also be shortlisted.
In this case, the men's team is still one person short of the quota, and the women's team is still two people.
According to the regulations of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, if there are less than 5, the coaching team will collectively study and discuss, based on the results of participating in international and domestic competitions before the 2021 and 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, in order to help complete the hangzhou Asian Games participation tasks, conducive to the preparation and training of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, focusing on the construction of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games echelon, according to the recent competition results and point rankings, nominate those who have outstanding results in international competitions, strong psychological quality and strong ability to resist pressure and physical fitness tests. Entered the list of group project proposals for the Hangzhou Asian Games.
From this regulation, it can be seen that the national table tennis will increase the construction of the echelon, that is to say, the selected athletes are more likely to be young athletes!
In this case, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen are likely to lose the Asian Games, and the most likely to be shortlisted should be young athletes!
But there is still a question at present, although Malone is eligible, can Malone really participate in the Asian Games?
After all, Malone is 34 years old and belongs to the old athletes, and everyone knows that the Asian Games is more about giving young athletes the opportunity to train young athletes.
For example, at the Asian Games four years ago, the national table tennis at that time did not exclude veteran players such as Ma Long, Ding Ning and Ding Ning, but sent out all young athletes.
At that time, the men's team sent Fan Zhendong, Lin Gaoyuan, Liang Jingkun, Wang Chuqin and Xue Fei, while the women's team sent Zhu Yuling, Chen Meng, Wang Manyu, Sun Yingsha and Chen Xingtong.
This year's Asian Games, the national table tennis is likely to still be based on the training of young athletes, at present, men's table tennis Xiang Peng, Lin Shidong and Yuan Licen have the opportunity to be shortlisted.
In terms of the women's team, there are still two places left, judging from the recent competition results, Wang Yidi may lock in one place, and the remaining one place is likely to be produced between Chen Xingtong and Ku Man.
Considering that Chen Xingtong's age is not dominant, Kuman may be more likely to be shortlisted.
Although Liu Shiwen's current strength still exists, due to the factor of age, it is likely that she will not be able to participate in the Asian Games at all.
Although Malone is eligible and even qualifies for singles competition, the final coaching staff may not let Malone participate on the grounds of echelon construction.
The bold prediction final list is as follows:
Men's Singles: Fan Zhendong, Wang Chuqin.
Boy Band: Fan Zhendong, Wang Chuqin, Liang Jingkun, Lin Shidong, Xiang Peng.
Women's Singles: Chen Meng, Sun Yingsha.
Women's group: Chen Meng, Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Wang Yidi, Ku Man.
Men's Doubles: Fan Zhendong / Wang Chuqin
Mixed Doubles: Sun Yingsha / Wang Chuqin
Women's Doubles: Sun Yingsha / Wang Manyu
Will the final roster be like this? Let's wait and see!