At the age of 42, it is basically difficult for most people who are engaged in table tennis, a sport with high physical requirements, to compete on the field.
One person, however, is an exception. Today, the 42-year-old Hou Yingchao is still active on the field, and even won the men's singles championship of the table tennis national championship at the age of 39. Behind this, it is inseparable from his unswerving love for table tennis and his concern for the overall situation of the country.
Stumbling, finally showing its edge
Hou Yingchao was given high hopes by his father when he was young. At the age of 6, he made his initial study of table tennis.
His emergence was not early: he joined the provincial team at the age of 14, and four years later, with his brilliant performance in the finals of the National Junior Championship, he entered the national team at the age of 18. This major breakthrough is both an encouragement and a challenge.
At that time, the national team was full of talents. Kong Linghui and Liu Guoliang were in their current years, followed by Wang Liqin and Ma Lin, who had been training for many years in the national team; and Wang Hao, who entered the national team in the same year as him, had even just turned 15 years old.
This "survival in the cracks" even continued into 2000. At that time, Liu Guoliang also mentioned in the interview that Hou Yingchao and other rising stars were actually not a big threat to them, and even there was still a big gap with Ma Lin and Wang Liqin.
But it was also in 2000 that Hou Yingchao ushered in a key point in his career.
In this year's championship, he first represented the Beijing team in the team competition, but in the case of the decisive game, he was chased by the opponent for many points, and finally lost the game.
The loss of this team competition made him deeply devastated, not only regretting that he lost the gold medal, but also squandering the opportunities that his teammates had worked hard to win.
Fortunately, he also has a coach who is good at enlightening him. After the ideological work was done, he quickly adjusted his state, turned his grief into motivation, and won the singles championship of that year. He then won the Finnish Open. At this time, the future of this future life seems to be gradually moving towards light.
The road to growth, the ups and downs
In 2000-2003, Hou Yingchao's achievements were also advancing little by little. As an extremely rare sharpshooter in the national team at that time, his style of play was "weird", and many players could not resist his attack, for which he also won the title of "the country's first strange hand".
In addition, the way he cuts the ball also gives him many unique advantages.
In 2002, the national team coaching staff said in an interview that they had realized that there were fewer and fewer people in the national team who played the ball, and it was very time-consuming to train a chipper; at this time, as the only chipper in the men's team, the 22-year-old Hou Yingchao naturally received a lot of attention:
In February 2003, in the team finals of the Asian Championships, Hou Yingchao was entrusted with the task of playing the first singles, breaking through doubts and helping the Chinese team win the final victory.
But the turn came quickly. In mid-2003, his condition began to decline. In May 2003, he participated in the World Table Tennis Championships, mixed doubles with Fan Ying, but was out early. In June of the same year, Hou Yingchao, who was in a slump, was relegated to the second team.
In August, Liu Guoliang even pointed out that as a fellow chipper, Hou Yingchao's style of play has changed too little, and there is still a gap between the level and the south Korean star Zhu Shihe.
The nightmare isn't over yet. Half a year later, in the New Year of 2004, the coaching staff suddenly issued a notice: Hou Yingchao was expelled from the national team because of his love affairs.
In this way, in the Year of the Olympic Games, the 24-year-old Hou Yingchao was forced to return to the provincial team, and his career fell to the bottom.
Have the big picture in mind, and don't be afraid of gains and losses
Fortunately, before leaving, Liu Guoliang, who was the head coach of the men's team at the time, found Hou Yingchao and gave him a point that he still remembers:
"You have to think about why you have improved more slowly in the past six months. This 'adjustment' is ostensibly because of 'love', but the deeper issue is your 'strength'. ”
After returning to the provincial team, he also began to calm down and seriously reflect on his problems. He began to review his original intention and love of playing table tennis, and realized that he must use his energy to table tennis.
After understanding the painstaking efforts of the national team, he began to adjust rapidly, and the state was gradually recovering. Soon, 2 months later, he was called up for the national team and returned to the national team.
However, this return also made him realize a deeper thing: his role is quietly changing. He used to be a single, and now it is more important to play the foundation for ma Lin, Wang Hao and other teammates as sparring partners, because only he is the closest to the chipper Zhu Shihe's playing style.
Since then, he has begun to play a role of silent support, and his mentality has become more and more peaceful. Although he has never been able to sit in the main seat, he still has no complaints. Because there are only two things in his heart: play table tennis well; thank the country well for its cultivation, and everything is focused on the overall situation.
Because of his love for table tennis, he can go to foreign leagues to insist on playing, and he can insist on not leaving the table tennis field after leaving the national team.
Because of his gratitude to the country, he can rush back at any time when the country needs him, continue to "teach lessons" for the growth path of the new generation of young players, and create a classic picture of unforgettable and modern cutting.
In 2014, the 34-year-old Hou Yingchao announced his retirement from the national team, but his ping-pong story continued.
Evergreen legend, veterans are not old
After retiring, Hou Yingchao became the Internet celebrity anchor of table tennis, and the game of commentary was well received by the majority of netizens. In addition, he continues to appear in the league, continues to play table tennis, and continues his love.
And his persistence has also reaped huge rewards.
In 2019, as a father, he appeared again in the national championships, winning the championship again after a gap of 19 years.
Two years later, he led the Shaanxi team to reach the quarterfinals of the National Games. This time, he had to face the Shanghai team led by the famous Xu Xin.
This time, the game was extremely fierce. After losing one set first, Hou Yingchao defeated his opponent to win back a city; after that, Shaanxi and Shanghai were tied 2-2. In the last round, it was Hou Ying's turn to surpass the horse.
The same tournaments, the same scores, the same situation, everything seems to go back 21 years. 21 years ago, Hou Yingchao, who was still a teenager, failed to withstand the pressure in the final showdown between Liaoning and Beijing, and finally finished second 2:3, which also became an indelible pain in his heart.
21 years later, he has entered the age of confusion and once again stands at the ultimate threshold. This time he faced the dynamic Zhao Zihao, who was a full 17 years younger than him, who had just won the first point for Shanghai in the first round.
In the first two sets of the decider, Hou Yingchao hit the iron while it was hot, and fully exerted the advantage of the experience accumulated over 20 years, falling straight into two sets.
However, with the lack of physical strength and the opponent gradually adapting to the rhythm of the game, the situation began to reverse from the third inning. He first lost the third set, then went straight to the fourth set, and after exhausting a huge amount of physical strength, the score of the two reached 10 draws.
However, this time, Lady Luck still did not favor the veteran. In the fourth set, Zhao Zihao won 12-10.
Losing the fourth set was already a huge blow to Hou Yingchao, whose physical strength was already severely overdrawn. But at this time, his strong willpower, sense of responsibility and love poured out in unison.
In the fifth set, in the face of Zhao Zihao's counter-overtaking, he chased point by point, bit the score to the equal score, and cut the opponent's attack again and again, and finally, after 190 minutes, he won the game 11-9, cutting a record-breaking result for the Shaanxi team. The bloody battle that lasted 190 minutes finally came to an end.
After the game, he was physically exhausted and completely lay on the ground. The broadcast camera stood against him for a long time, and no matter which team the fans or the players of the side, they were all moved to tears. This picture has also become one of the most classic pictures of the Shaanxi National Games - the persistence, tenacity and hard work encapsulated in the sportsmanship are presented by him without reservation, so that everyone feels the great shocking power brought by sports.
And this is also one of the profiles of his table tennis career. Along the way, he always maintained his love, the overall situation, strong struggle, these three supported him from a child to a youth, supported him from the trough back to the mountain, supported him for decades to play the solid backing behind the national team, silently add bricks and tiles behind the glamorous.
This is the spirit of the veteran.