On 31 March 2022, the WTT Star Challenge in Doha, Qatar, concluded all competitions. The champions and runners-up in men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles all had their names, but no Chinese players stood on the podium, and all 5 individuals were not received. Judging from this result alone, it shows that the Chinese table tennis team has not really dominated the table tennis world, and there is still room for further improvement in the training and training of young players.
WTT Star Challenge, Doha, Qatar, 1st runner-up:
1. Women's Doubles
Winner: Miyu Kihara / Miyu Nagasaki (Japan)
Runner-up: Li Yuzhen / Zheng Yijing (Taipei, China)
2. Men's Doubles
Winner: Duda / Qiu Dang (Germany)
Runner-up: Liao Zhenju / Lin Yunru (Taipei, China)
3. Mixed doubles
Winner: Le Besson / Yuan Jiannan (France)
Runner-up: Lin Yunru / Zheng Yijing (Chinese Taipei)
4. Women's Singles
Winner: Miyu Kihara (Japan)
Runner-up: Han Ying (Germany)
5. Men's Singles
Winner: Andrei Ghazni (Croatia)
Runner-up: Lim Jong-hoon (Korea)
The new WTT tournament system starting in 2021 is divided into 5 levels from high to low:
1. WTT Grand Slam. In the first Singapore Grand Slam in March, the Chinese table tennis team won five crowns.
2. WTT World Cup
3. WTT Championship. The Championship is a WTT Tier 1 event.
4. WTT Star Challenge. The Star Challenge is a WTT Tier 2 event. In the Doha Star Challenge, the Chinese table tennis team did not receive any results.
5. WTT Regular Season Challenge. The Regular Challenge is a WTT Tier 3 event. In the Doha regular season challenge, Chinese teenager Yuan Licen won the men's singles championship and Fan Siqi won the women's singles championship.
Judging from the above level of competitions, the advantages of the Chinese table tennis team in the most senior Grand Slams, World Cups and championships are still very obvious. The main reason is that the strength of fan zhendong, Ma Long, Chen Meng, Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu, the main players of national table tennis, is higher than that of other association players, and no one can beat them.
The lowest level of regular season challenges. China's young players also have certain advantages over young players from other associations. Therefore, Yuan Licen and Fan Siqi can stand out and win the singles championship.
But in the second-tier star challenge, Chinese players are in danger of breaking the gear. There are also some objective reasons why Chinese players in the Doha Star Challenge have not achieved good results. Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, Chen Meng, Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu and others who originally participated in the Singapore Grand Slam will participate in the Doha Star Challenge. The coaching staff considered that the main players were too tired and gave up the game. From the perspective of training young people, it is completely up to the young players to compete in this station. Other associations basically sent their main players to the game. Therefore, from the perspective of competition experience, Chinese young players are still lacking.
However, in terms of technical strength alone, China's young players are still very strong. Zhou Qihao has defeated Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and other main players many times, and even qualified for the houston World Table Tennis Championships. Yuan Licen, Zhang Rui and others have also defeated the main players in various competitions and performed well.
Doha Star Challenge Yuan Lichen lost 3-1 to Germany's Francesca in the second round of the main match. Nigeria's Aruna has defeated Liu Dingshuo, Zhao Zihao and Zhou Qihao, and has a rare string of threes against national table tennis. Aruna is a player with a strong forehand and a weak backhand. For such players, if the techniques and tactics are used rationally, they can win the battle. Unfortunately, the young generals are too dependent on their own COSCO Taiwan holding technology, and blindly withdraw from Taiwan to fight each other. Just enter Aruna's favorite and best link. Therefore, the young player mainly loses in experience, playing hard without a brain, and will not be flexible according to the opponent.
This time the women's unilateral can be described as a fiasco. The best score was Zhang Rui, who lost 1-3 to Chinese Taipei Chen Siyu in the women's singles quarterfinals. Other national table tennis players' records are: Qi Fei lost 0-3 to Yang Xiaoxin in the second round of women's singles; Liu Weishan lost 2-3 to Japan's Nagasaki Miyu in the first round of women's singles; Qian Tianyi lost 2-3 to India's Batra in the first round of women's singles; Fan Siqi lost 2-3 to Japan's Miyu Kato in the first round of women's singles; Chen Yi lost 0-3 to Japan's Zhang Benmei in the first round of the women's singles qualifier.
The Japanese Table Tennis Association did not send the main players such as Ito Mimachi, Hirano Miyu, and Ishikawa Yoshinori this time, and the players were also young players. But in the duel between these young players, the Japanese players still have the upper hand. In the end, they also won the women's doubles and women's singles titles.
Taken together. The main players of the Chinese table tennis team still maintain a leading edge in the international platform. But there are still some gaps between young players and second-team players compared to those of other associations. The main reason for this is the lack of experience in international competitions and the lack of adaptability. I hope that in the future, we will often send young players to participate in international competitions to accumulate experience and promote growth. In this way, the Chinese table tennis team can maintain its long-term prosperity and lead the world table tennis world.