There's an old saying that goes: be famous early! For the national table tennis athletes, the same is true, if you want to achieve brilliant achievements, you must take advantage of your youth to play a good result as soon as possible.
The competition within the national table tennis team is very cruel and fierce, if an athlete can not play a good result in the big competition early, he will soon be surpassed by his teammates around him.
I remember that after Ding Ning lost to Li Xiaoxia in the final of the London Olympic Games, many people comforted Ding Ning, it's okay, you are still young, you can start again after four years.
But Ding Ning was worried, where would he be in four years? Four years later, will he still have a chance to compete in the Olympics?
Therefore, for athletes, especially national table tennis players, it is even more necessary to take advantage of their youth, train hard, and strive to achieve good results in the competition.
Looking back at the history of Chinese women's table tennis, you will find that many excellent athletes have played very good results at a very young age.
Let's take stock of the 22-year-old Chinese female table tennis players since the time of Deng Yaping, and see what these famous players have achieved at the age of 22.
1. Deng Yaping.
Deng Yaping was born in 1973, Deng Yaping had already won the women's singles championship of the national championships at the age of 13, and at the age of 15, Deng Yaping won the women's singles championship of the Asian Cup!
By the time Deng Yaping was 22 years old, in 1995, Deng Yaping had won two World Table Tennis Singles Titles and an Olympic Singles Title, in addition, Deng Yaping also won the Singles Championships of the National Games.
It is no exaggeration to say that if it were not for the late holding of the Women's Individual World Cup, Deng Yaping could have completed the great cause of grand slam at the age of 19.
In fact, Deng Yaping completed a double grand slam and was only 24 years old when she retired!
Second, Wang Nan.
Wang Nan was born in 1978, 5 years younger than Deng Yaping.
In 1997, 19-year-old Wang Nan defeated Li Ju in the women's singles final of the World Cup to win her first world singles title.
In 1998, at the age of 20, Wang Nan performed four events at the Asian Games in Bangkok, and finally achieved the miracle of four crowns. In the same year, she was crowned World Cup women's singles champion.
In 1999, the 21-year-old Wang Nan reached the women's singles final of the World Table Tennis Championships for the second time, and in the final, he defeated Zhang Yining, who was younger than himself, and won the women's singles championship of the World Table Tennis Championships.
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, 22-year-old Wang Nan defeated Li Ju in the final to win the Olympic women's singles championship and also achieve a Grand Slam!
3. Zhang Yining.
Zhang Yining was born in 1981, 3 years younger than Wang Nan.
In 1999, Zhang Yining, who was only 19 years old, reached the women's singles final of the World Table Tennis Championships and once led Wang Nan, but unfortunately was reversed by Wang Nan at the last moment.
In 2001, Zhang Yining, who was 20 years old at the time, won the World Cup women's singles title, and the following year, Zhang Yining successfully defended the World Cup singles title.
At the same time, in 2001, 20-year-old Zhang Yining reached the women's singles final of the National Games, and lost to Wang Nan in the final. At the 2002 Asian Games, Zhang Yining won the women's singles championship at the Asian Games.
Fourth, Guo Yue.
Guo Yue is recognized as a talented girl in the history of Chinese women's table tennis. As early as 2004, Guo Yue, who was only 16 years old at the time, won the women's singles championship in the ITTF year-end finals and qualified for the women's doubles competition at the Athens Olympic Games.
In 2005, the 17-year-old Guo Yue won the mixed doubles championship of the World Table Tennis Championships, and in 2007, Guo Yue, who was only 19 years old at the time, swept Zhang Yining 4-0 in the semi-finals of the World Table Tennis Championships, and defeated Li Xiaoxia in the final to win the women's singles championship of the World Table Tennis Championships.
At the Beijing Olympic Games, The 20-year-old Guo Yue is already participating in the Olympic Games for the second time, and in the women's singles semifinals, Guo Yue lost to Wang Nan.
Fifth, Li Xiaoxia.
Li Xiaoxia and Guo Yue were athletes of the same era, both born in 1988.
In 2007, 19-year-old Li Xiaoxia participated in the singles competition of the World Table Tennis Championships for the first time, successfully reached the final, and once led Guo Yue in the final, but due to the lack of experience in the competition, she was tragically reversed by Guo Yue.
In 2008, 20-year-old Li Xiaoxia successfully won the world cup and won her first world singles championship!
Sixth, Ding Ning.
Ding Ning was born in 1990, and in 2007, Ding Ning, who was only 17 years old at the time, defeated Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia in the City Games and won the women's singles championship of the City Games.
In 2011, the 21-year-old Ding Ning defeated Li Xiaoxia twice in succession at the World Table Tennis Championships and the World Cup to win the women's singles title of the World Table Tennis Championships and the World Cup, just one step away from the Grand Slam.
In 2012, the 22-year-old Ding Ning lost to Li Xiaoxia in the women's singles final of the London Olympics and missed the championship.
Seventh, Liu Shiwen.
Liu Shiwen, like Guo Yue, also debuted with the aura of a talented girl, in fact, Liu Shiwen's results are really good.
In 2009, at the age of 18, Liu Shiwen defeated Li Xiaoxia and Guo Yue in the World Cup to win the Women's Singles Championship of the World Cup.
In 2013, at the age of 22, Liu Shiwen won the Women's Singles Title of the World Cup again.
Eighth, Chen Meng.
Many fans think that Chen Meng belongs to the late athletes, in fact, Chen Meng defeated Ding Ning in the National Games as early as 2013, when he was only 19 years old, and finally reached the final.
Only in the final against Li Xiaoxia, who was gaining momentum, she lost 3-4 in the end.
At the same time, in the 2015 ITTF year-end finals, Chen Meng successfully reached the final, but lost to Ding Ning in the final.
However, because Chen Meng was 22 years old, the women's table tennis team had strong teammates such as Li Xiaoxia, Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen, Chen Meng could not make a breakthrough in the World Series.
It was not until 2020, due to the injuries of Liu Shiwen and Zhu Yuling, that Chen Meng won a World Cup opportunity, and Chen Meng also successfully won the championship and won his first world singles championship, but at this time, Chen Meng was already 26 years old!
Ninth, Zhu Yuling.
When it comes to Zhu Yuling, many fans will sigh. The former successor to The Chinese women's table tennis after Ding Ning has now faded away.
But in fact, Zhu Yuling is extremely talented and has a very good feel.
Zhu Yuling is one year younger than Chen Meng, as early as 2017, when Zhu Yuling was 22 years old, she reached the women's singles final in the World Table Tennis Championships.
In the same year, Zhu Yuling defeated Liu Shiwen twice in the World Cup and the Asian Cup, winning the Women's Singles Championship in the World Cup and the Asian Cup.
In fact, Zhu Yuling has also successfully won the championship in three consecutive national championships in 2014, 2015 and 2016, completing three consecutive championships in the national championship!
Tenth, Wang Manyu.
Wang Manyu is currently a very good young player in Chinese women's table tennis, and he is only 23 years old this year.
Wang Manyu defeated Ding Ning in the 2018 National Championships and won the Women's Singles Championship of the National Championships!
At the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, 22-year-old Wang Manyu was appointed to play well and help the Chinese women's table tennis successfully defend her title.
In the same year, the National Games and the World Table Tennis Championships became a stage for Wang Manyu alone, and Wang Manyu won the women's singles championship of the National Games and the World Table Tennis Championships in succession!
At the age of 22, he was able to win the double sports championship of the National Games and the World Table Tennis Championships, and only Deng Yaping and Wang Nan did it before!
Eleventh, Sun Yingsha.
Sun Yingsha is currently the youngest absolute main player in the Chinese women's table tennis team.
Although Sun Yingsha did not enter the national first team for a long time, she soon gained a foothold in the fierce competition.
In 2019, the 19-year-old Sun Yingsha won the women's singles championship at the National Championships, and in the women's singles competition of the Asian Championships in the same year, Sun Yingsha defeated Ding Ning Liu Shiwen to win the women's singles championship at the Asian Championships.
But at present, Sun Yingsha seems to have encountered a bottleneck period, she has reached the final in the World Cup, olympic games, world table tennis championships and national games, but she is not able to beat Chen Meng and Wang Manyu and miss the championship.
Today's Sun Yingsha is almost 22 years old, compared with the predecessors, Sun Yingsha is still slightly inferior in the results of the competition, and she still needs to continue to work hard in the future!