On October 20, Malone ushered in the important day of his 34th birthday. Born in 1988, the Dragons are still in very good shape. In the first round of the Macau Championship men's singles, Ma Long defeated Yukiya Uda 3-1 and maintained a suppressive advantage in the final two sets. Although he is 34 years old, Ma Long is still an irreplaceable figure in the national table tennis men's team. Qin Zhijian previously made it clear in an interview that Ma Long's status is still the core workhorse of the Olympic cycle.
Before the Tokyo Olympics, there had never been an example of people over 30 years old who could participate in the Olympic Games. At the Tokyo Olympics, Liu Guoliang sent Ma Long, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen three veterans over 30 years old in one breath. However, the status of these three people in the team is different, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen only participate in mixed doubles and team competitions, Liu Shiwen also withdrew from the team competition due to injury, and Wang Manyu was ordered in danger. Of the three, only Malone competed in singles and became the first men's singles champion in Olympic history to defend his title.
After entering the Paris Olympic cycle, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen have long faded out of the main lineup of national table tennis, only Ma Long still maintains the core position. At the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships, Ma Long, as one of the three main forces of national table tennis, played the role of fixing the sea god needle. In the semifinals of the men's team, Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong lost to Zhang Benzhihe, and Ma Long won the key third game, helping the national table tennis to take the lead and playing a key role in the final victory of the national table tennis.
On October 20, Ma Long ushered in his 34th birthday, and the World Table Tennis Federation also sent birthday wishes to the best player in history on the official social platform. Friend Zhang Jike, also born in 1988, has faded out of the competition for many years, and Ma Long is still the main player in the national table tennis. Not only that, Qin Zhijian specially evaluated Ma Long in an interview after the World Table Tennis Championships. He said that Malone has been a core workhorse in several Olympic cycles, which undoubtedly affirms Ma Long's current position in the team.
The work of the national table tennis men's team in the replacement of the old and the new is not going well, and Liang Jingkun, Wang Chuqin and Lin Gaoyuan cannot replace Ma Long's position, so the dragon team is still insisting. It is not that Ma Long can give way to young people, from the perspective of the World Table Tennis Championships Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong both lost to Zhang Benzhihe, the young players of national table tennis still need to continue to grow. In the current situation, it is good that Malone can stay in the team.
Perhaps Liu Guoliang and Qin Zhijian are also thinking about what to do if Ma Long can't participate in the Paris Olympics, but at least the Dragons are still in good shape, and there is still a theoretical possibility of three consecutive Olympic men's singles titles.