Whenever those who contribute to China's table tennis cause are mentioned, everyone will always think of Liu Guoliang, who was misunderstood by unknown netizens as "a fat man who doesn't understand ball". In fact, before Liu Guoliang there is a well-known table tennis player, who not only achieved a series of brilliant achievements during his playing period, but also transformed into a coach after retiring to create a table tennis power, he is Liu Guoliang's mentor, Cai Zhenhua.
Speaking of Cai Zhenhua, some fans may have the impression of him now from football, because he also took over the football work on the mainland. However, he first embarked on the road of athletes to transform into a national team coach, and then later served as the deputy director of the Continental Table Tennis Center, all of which have an inseparable relationship with table tennis.
Cai Zhenhua entered the sports school at the age of 7 and began to contact table tennis, and not long after entering the sports school, he won his first championship. His talent and love for the sport have sustained him all the way from sports school to the provincial team and finally to the national team through selection. Cai Zhenhua was the key training object when he was in the national youth team, and he was also a good seedling for playing table tennis in the eyes of the coach. Later, when he entered the national team, he became the core main force of the national table tennis men's team with his outstanding ability. At that time, Cai Zhenhua was only an adult, and he had already won many gold medals in various world competitions such as the World Table Tennis Championships, which brought a lot of honors to the country, and he was also awarded the title of "Chinese Athlete".
Cai Zhenhua officially announced his retirement in 1985, and at the age of 24, he chose to end his athletic career. However, after that, Cai Zhenhua did not leave the table tennis stage, but went to Italy as a "public coach" to serve as his national team coach. In the years of coaching in Italy, Cai Zhenhua has raised the overall strength of the Italian team to a higher level, and many Italians also call Cai Zhenhua the "godfather of table tennis". Such a high evaluation proves that Cai Zhenhua not only plays well, but also is very successful as a coach.
In 1989, Cai Zhenhua left Italy to return to his homeland and began to serve as the coach of the Chinese table tennis team. At that time, the Chinese table tennis team was at a low point, especially at the World Table Tennis Championships, which was played "5-0" by the Swedish team, resulting in extremely low morale in the team, and everyone was shrouded in endless haze. Faced with this situation, Cai Zhenhua, who had just taken office, began to use new personnel, and also carried out serious rectification of the loose team discipline. Under Cai Zhenhua's series of measures, the members of the Chinese table tennis team gradually recovered their former spirit, and their results have also been greatly improved, and they have begun to dominate the world table tennis arena.
At the end of 2002, Cai Zhenhua served as the deputy director of the China Table Tennis Center, at that time the Chinese table tennis team had come out of the haze, and Cai Zhenhua was gradually entangled in busy work affairs, so he rarely appeared in front of the public as a coach, but assigned the corresponding coach to the national table tennis team, and then Cai Zhenhua left the national table tennis in 2005, and he also went to the National Sports Bureau to take up his post and began to step into the political world.
Although Cai Zhenhua later caused some controversy on the issue of national football, it is undeniable that he has made great contributions to the development of the Chinese table tennis team. In addition, Cai Zhenhua has also gained success in personal emotional issues. His wife's name is Huang Sheng, and she was once very famous in the Hongqiyue Troupe. At that time, Cai Zhenhua had not yet retired, and he met Huang Sheng through the introduction of others. Cai Zhenhua fell in love at first sight with the gentle and elegant Huang Sheng, but Huang Sheng was initially not much interested in Cai Zhenhua.
After that, Cai Zhenhua can be said to have used all his strength to pursue Huang Sheng, and finally he captured Huang Sheng's heart with practical actions, and the two also entered the palace of marriage together in 1985. When Cai Zhenhua went to Italy to coach, Huang Sheng also came to Italy with her husband. When they first arrived in a foreign country where they were not familiar with life, the two people who had just married began to depend on each other. They encountered many difficulties in their daily life, but the two of them worked hard together and did not feel that it was too difficult, and the years in a foreign country became the best witness of their happy marriage.
Although Cai Zhenhua is often busy with work and neglects his family on weekdays, Huang Sheng has never complained about these things. She understands Cai Zhenhua and knows how heavy the burden on him is, but in the end, she is also a wife who will care about her husband, so every time the two get together briefly, she cherishes it very much. Later, Cai Zhenhua realized that he should balance the relationship between family and work, so he freed up more time to spend with his wife and son, and he also became a "model husband" in everyone's eyes.
Now Cai Zhenhua no longer works in the National Sports Bureau, without those heavy affairs, Cai Zhenhua's focus is almost entirely on his family. However, he still cares about China's sports cause, and not long ago as a table tennis promotion ambassador, he contributed to the development of Chinese table tennis. Looking back at Cai Zhenhua's past, although there are some criticisms and controversies in him, he is still a very influential member in the history of national table tennis. Now that Cai Zhenhua has returned to his family and lived a relaxed and leisurely life with his wife, we also wish him happiness all the time!