Shanghai table tennis celebrity Li Furong
Why is playing ball called "American Men plus Bomber"?
What kind of success have you achieved as a coach?
What do you do as a leader?
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The third exhibition hall of Shanghai Sports Museum
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The racket used by Shanghai table tennis celebrity Li Furong
In a display case in the third exhibition hall of the Shanghai Sports Museum, "City of Vitality", there are three table tennis rackets on display, which together witness the inheritance of Shanghai table tennis, of which this one that looks the most age-like racket belongs to one of the pioneers of the national table tennis era - Li Furong, a famous shanghai table tennis player.
Young people are fearless
In 1959, Li Furong won the fourth place in men's singles at the first National Games
Born in Shanghai in 1942, Li Furong, like many children of his generation, was exposed to table tennis from an early age. Because under the material conditions at that time, table tennis, which did not require much financial investment, was widely loved. The table can be a dining table or a cement table, the net can be built with two bricks on a stick, and a wooden board can be used as a racket, in short, nothing can stop the enthusiasm of children to play table tennis. The early appearance of the ping-pong talent made Li Furong's juvenile career smooth. In 1957, he won the Shanghai Junior Championship. In 1958, he was selected for the Shanghai Table Tennis Team and was selected for the National Youth Team in the same year. Amazingly, his name spread throughout China in just the second year.
In 1959, the tenth anniversary of the founding of New China, the first National People's Games were held. This is a major review of the sports industry in the past 10 years, and it is also a milestone event in the history of new Chinese sports. Not long ago, a great event rejoiced the whole country. Chinese table tennis player Rong Guotuan won the men's singles championship at the 25th World Table Tennis Championships held in Dortmund, Germany, and New China has its first world champion in sports competitions! But no one expected that in the past few months, at the first National Games, a big cold door broke out. Li Furong, a 17-year-old player of the Shanghai Table Tennis Team, was not afraid of strong hands, dared to fight, and the newborn calf overturned the tiger and eliminated the xinke world champion Rong Guotuan with a score of 3:2. This almost became the most sensational news of the first National Games.
In fact, as early as a year ago, in the national competition, Li Furong won the main players of the national team, Wang Chuanyao, Rong Guotuan and Zhuang Zedong. This teenager, with a fierce ball style, with a "fierce" energy, the newborn calf is not afraid of the tiger, and later threatens the ping-pong arena with a fierce forehand. Interestingly, at that time, three of the main players of the national table tennis men's team were from Shanghai, each with a nickname. For example, Xu Yinsheng is known as "Ping-Pong Wisdom Multi-Star" with comprehensive technology and tactical flexibility; Zhang Xielin, with his unpredictable cutting technique, is nicknamed "Magician"; it belongs to Li Furong's nickname of "Beautiful Man plus Bomber". "Bomber" shows his playing ability, and "beautiful man" shows his idol strength. They fought side by side with Rong Guotuan, Zhuang Zedong, Lin Huiqing, Zheng Minzhi, etc., bringing China's table tennis level into the ranks of world powers and creating the first golden age of national table tennis.
Reverse to win a Grand Slam
Li Furong, Deputy Head of the Chinese Table Tennis Delegation and Coach, April 9, 1974 (second from left)
Have friendly conversations with athletes from the United Arab Emirates, the Democratic People's Republic of Yemen, Pakistan and other countries
Since 1974, Li Furong has succeeded Xu Yinsheng as the head coach of the national table tennis men's team, and led the Chinese team to become a "constant victorious army" for ten years. But in the 35th World Table Tennis Championships in 1979, the national table tennis lost the men's team championship and two individual championships. Li Furong's "fierce" strength came again, and he made a military order: "If I can't get back the championship in the next competition, I will automatically step down." ”
However, it is impossible to turn around the battle by relying on "fierceness" alone, so Li Furong conscientiously summed up and boldly innovated to find out three magic weapons for victory: technological innovation, cultivating new talents, and strictly grasping the quality of will. Sure enough, by the 36th World Table Tennis Championships held in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia in 1981, the new generation of Cai Zhenhua, Sesek, Cao Yanhua and so on had already provoked the beams. Under the leadership of Li Furong, then head coach of national table tennis, the Chinese team won all seven championships of the World Table Tennis Championships in one fell swoop, creating an unprecedented record in the world table tennis world. A Yugoslav journalist joked with Li Furong: "Chinese friends are not polite at all, we have cooked so many dishes, you have all eaten." Li Furong thought to himself: In fact, we not only won seven championships, but also wrapped up the runners-up.
The ping-pong reform introduced a dual-track system
On May 3, 2015, Cai Zhenhua, then deputy director of the State General Administration of Sports, presented Xu Yinsheng and Li Furong with the "Lifetime Achievement Award"
After 1981, Li Furong gradually stepped into a management position, successively serving as the director of the Training Bureau of the State Sports Commission, the deputy director of the State General Administration of Sports, the vice chairman of the Chinese Olympic Committee, and the chairman of the Asian Table Tennis Federation. He is currently the honorary president of the Asian Table Tennis Federation for life. During his tenure, many young talents have been promoted to coaching positions, such as Cai Zhenhua of the table tennis team, Li Yongbo of the badminton team, Huang Yubin of the gymnastics team, and Zhou Jihong of the diving team, who are the coaches who have created several "dream teams" for the Chinese sports world. Of course, he has always been very concerned about table tennis, especially how to carry out the reform of table tennis.
In 1994, the tide of sports reform arose, and table tennis was no exception. In August, Li Furong published a report on "Accelerating the Pace of Reform and Promoting the Further Development of Table Tennis in the Mainland", introducing the "dual-track system" into table tennis reform for the first time and promoting the parallel planning and market dual-track. In 1995, club competitions came into being. In 1999, the development of Table Tennis in China was finally no longer limited to the national team, and the Table Tennis Super League became an important force to promote the development of national ball. In 2000, Shandong Luneng, the first table tennis club in china that operates in the true sense of the enterprise system in the sense of the market, marked a revolutionary step in the reform of table tennis.
On May 3, 2015, the China Table Tennis Association presented Li Furong with the "China Table Tennis Lifetime Achievement Award" in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the development of table tennis in China. From athletes to coaches to leaders, Li Furong not only brought many honors to New China, but also actively reformed and innovated, and constantly created the glory of national table tennis.
Text: The Paper, Ping Pong World journal
Pictured: Interview with Shanghai Table Tennis Celebrities, the "Cradle" of National Balls
Editors: Yang Yu, Yang Ye
Review: Zhang Xiaotong