In the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Xu Xin / Liu Shiwen combination took the lead in the mixed doubles final, regrettably lost to the Japanese Mizutani Hayabusa / Ito Mishimasa combination, and did not qualify for the Olympic table tennis mixed doubles gold, very regrettable and regrettable.
Xu Xin Liu Shiwen
Since then, due to their age, status and other reasons, the golden pair has less and less opportunities to participate in international competitions, except for forming a team again at the WTT Macau Championship and winning the mixed doubles championship, there is no more international competition. In high-level events such as the World Table Tennis Championships and the Grand Slam Championships, the national table tennis is mainly cultivating young groups and accumulating strength for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
At present, the most important training of national table tennis is probably the combination of Wang Chuqin / Sun Yingsha, after winning the 2021 Houston World Table Tennis Championships, this pair of pairs have a good performance in various events, from the age, cultivation value, technical ability and other levels, this combination will most likely become the first mixed doubles combination of national table tennis in the Paris Olympic cycle.
Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha
Looking at the current situation, the main opponents of the mixed doubles project include Huang Zhenting/Du Kaixuan in Hong Kong, Lin Yunru/Zheng Yijing in Chinese Taipei, Zhang Benzhi and/Hina Hayata in Japan, and some European combinations. In fact, as an Olympic project, the threat of these opponents is not small, and all kinds of competitions can only have a pair of mixed doubles to participate, and there is also a lot of pressure on national table tennis.
But I think that in the future, the Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha combination will still be a pair of pairs that the national table tennis focuses on cultivating, of course, this is linked to the participation of players in the Olympic Games, Wang Chuqin is still likely to get another men's singles qualification in addition to Fan Zhendong, the women's singles, Chen Meng, Wang Manyu, Sun Yingsha have the opportunity to participate.
However, assuming that Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha participates in the mixed doubles, it will distract the attention of the singles project, and it may even be because the mixed doubles lose the opportunity to participate in the singles, which is also a pro and con for the player.
However, for the national table tennis coaching staff, after Xu Xin / Liu Shiwen, it is not easy to find a group of players who cooperate with tacit understanding and bear the pressure of the first olympic table tennis, Fan Zhendong / Ku Man is too young, and Fan Zhendong bears the pressure of ensuring the men's singles champion, so at present, if it is predicted, it is most likely that the "Shatou" combination will participate.
Xu Xin/Liu Shiwen
Looking forward to the Paris Olympic Games now is a little too early, the next two years of various international events and WTT level commercial events, and look at how the national table tennis sent a mixed doubles event lineup, you can see which pair of combinations are reused and cultivated, what do you think?