As we all know, the main test of an athlete's strength is the performance in the world competition.
For table tennis players, the most important thing is the world's three major competitions, that is, the Olympic Games, the World Table Tennis Championships and the World Cup, if you can win the championship in these three major competitions, you can achieve the great cause of the Grand Slam.
At present, the Chinese men's table tennis athlete who has won the most singles championships in the three major competitions is Ma Long, who has won the men's singles championship in two consecutive Olympic Games, in addition, Ma Long has also completed the feat of three consecutive world table tennis championships, and also won the men's singles championship of the World Cup twice. A total of 7 three-time singles champions.
But you know what? So far, the male table tennis player who has scored the most in the three major competitions is not Malone, but another athlete, who has reached the final of the three majors 12 times, but only won the championship four times, and did not qualify for the grand slam.
This athlete is Wang Hao.
Wang Hao was the leading figure of Chinese men's table tennis before the era of Ma Long Zhang Jike, and was known as the Second King and One Horse together with Ma Lin Wang Liqin.
In 2004, Wang Hao, who was 21 years younger at the time, got the opportunity to participate in the men's singles competition of the Athens Olympic Games, in the semi-finals, Wang Hao defeated Wang Liqin, who had lost more than one victory before, to enter the final, in the final Wang Hao faced South Korea's Liu Chengmin, after a hard battle, Wang Hao finally won the runner-up of the Olympic Games, which was also the first time Wang Hao reached the final in the three major competitions.
Wang Hao also played well in the World Table Tennis Championships, reaching the men's singles final of the World Table Tennis Championships three times in 2009, 2011 and 2013 respectively.
But Wang Hao only defeated Wang Liqin in the final of the 2009 World Table Tennis Championships to win the men's singles title.
Since then, in 2011 and 2013, Wang Hao has reached the men's singles final of the World Table Tennis Championships twice in a row, but in these two finals, Wang Hao lost to the same person, that is, the fastest Grand Slam winner in history, Zhang Jike.
In the World Cup, Wang Hao participated in 6 World Cup singles matches, from 2005 to 2008. Wang Hao has participated in the Singles World Cup for four consecutive times, winning the second place in 2005 and 2006, and winning the World Cup singles title twice in 2007 and 2008.
In 2010 and 2011, Wang Hao reached the singles finals of the World Cup twice, including defeating Zhang Jike in 2010 and winning the world cup singles title, but in 2011, Wang Hao lost to Zhang Jike and won the runner-up.
Throughout Wang Hao's career, he has reached the men's singles final of the Olympic Games three times, the men's singles final of the World Table Tennis Championships three times, and the men's singles final of the World Cup six times, for a total of 12 finals.
But Wang Hao only won the men's singles title at the World Table Tennis Championships in 2009 and the World Cup in 2007 in 2008 and 2010. Wang Hao, who has lost the other 8 finals, has lost in the finals and has only finished runners-up.
Especially in the Olympic Games, for Wang Hao has become a pain in the heart, Wang Hao has won the singles qualification for three consecutive Olympic Games, but in the final, he lost to South Korea's Liu Chengmin, China's Ma Lin and China's Zhang Jike, and won the men's singles runner-up of the Olympic Games for three consecutive times.
In this way, Wang Hao's career is only one Olympic champion to achieve a Grand Slam, but the Olympic Games have become Wang Hao's eternal regret.
Compared with Wang Hao, although Ma Long has not reached the final of the three major competitions as Wang Hao, Ma Long's winning rate is very high.
Malone has competed in two Olympic singles tournaments so far, winning both at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021.
In the World Table Tennis Championships, Ma Long played even better, reaching the final of the World Table Tennis Championships three times and winning the Singles Championships three times, in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
In the World Cup, Malone has participated in 4 times, namely 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2020. Malone won the World Cup singles title twice in 2012 and 2015 and finished second in singles at the World Cup in 2014 and 2020.
Through the comparative analysis of Ma Long and Wang Hao, it was found that Wang Hao had more times to enter the finals of the three major competitions, but Wang Hao's ability to grasp the final was still slightly inferior to That of Ma Long, wang Hao had only won four championships in 12 times, while Ma Long had won 7 championships in 9 finals.
Compared with Ma Long, although Wang Hao did not achieve the dream of a Grand Slam, Wang Hao is also a very good athlete in the history of Chinese men's table tennis.
Today's Wang Hao has retired for many years, in the national team as Fan Zhendong's head coach, now, Fan Zhendong under the guidance of Wang Hao, has won 4 World Cup singles championships and a world table tennis singles champion, only one Olympic gold medal away from the Grand Slam, Paris Olympic Games Fan Zhendong can win the championship, achieve Grand Slam, make up for Wang Hao's regrets? Let's wait and see.