Observation|Under the tide of withdrawal, the national table tennis selection competition has become a chicken rib? Ma Long's victory highlights the weak status quo of men's singles

Under the spotlight, the first stop of the National Table Tennis "Direct to Durban" Selection Tournament came to an end.

Under the influence of the withdrawal tide, the game was full of twists and turns.

In the singles event, there were no blockbuster players, and the players of the middle ecology failed to seize the opportunity, and the final winners were all old faces: Ma Long and Sun Yingsha. The familiar name can no longer be familiar, or they go straight to the Durban World Table Tennis Championships.

In the mixed doubles event, the champion this time is Lin Gaoyuan/Chen Xingtong, which is somewhat surprising. When the main mixed doubles opponents were unable to perform well due to physical reasons, this championship still represented that Guoping was exploring more possibilities in the mixed doubles test field.

Compared to these, there are some issues that may need to be considered more for the coaching staff.

In addition to Ma Long Fan Zhendong, the national table tennis men's singles seems to have a fault, who is the next leader? The tide of withdrawal has caused the main team members to withdraw from the competition one after another, how much is the effect of training in the selection competition? What is the idea of mixed doubles group dominance, many pairs of new combinations?

1. The hidden dangers of the national table tennis men's singles behind Ma Long

The final men's singles final was Ma Long vs Fan Zhendong.

Then, Ma Long went 3-0 to Fan Zhendong and went straight to Durban.

Dragon fat battle, fans happy. Malone wins and the fans admire. But for the national table tennis coaching staff, this may not be the result they want to see. Marlon is 34 years old, he has won both lap Grand Slams, how come all these years have passed, or him?

After all, the National Table Tennis 92line - Fang Bo, Zhou Yu and Yan An have all begun to explain Ma Long's game, and Ma Long still maintains a long standby state. Those who are a little younger than Malone are retired. Much smaller than Marlon, he can't beat Marlon. Over the years, it seems that Ma Long alone has assumed most of the focus of the national table tennis men's singles, and Fan Zhendong has slowly grown up after losing to Ma Long many times. But when it comes to key competitions, such as the Tokyo Olympic final, such as this tryout, they all lost to Malone.

Ma Long's strength makes many national table tennis athletes of his generation not have many opportunities to perform; Ma Long's continued strength makes it impossible for the young players behind to have too many opportunities to perform. Take this tryout, Xu Yingbin, Xu Haidong, Yuan Licen and Ma Long are in the same group, all one round younger than Ma Long, but no one can win Ma Long.

This is the cruelty of the national table tennis men's singles. We were surprised by Malone's performance, but it won't be a good thing in the long run.

Kong Linghui has Liu Guoliang, Ma Lin Wang Liqin and Wang Hao contending, Ma Long and Zhang Jike are also Yu Liang disputes, if Ma Long retires, who can carry the banner of the national table tennis men's singles with Fan Zhendong in the future? Wang Chuqin? Liang Jingkun? Lin Gaoyuan? It seems that they are still a breath away.

2. Rare matches due to withdrawal

Lin Shidong, Zhou Kai, Xiang Peng, Chen Yuanyu, Qian Tianyi, Wang Chuqin, Wang Manyu, Zhang Rui...

This string of names is the list of members who withdrew due to fever in the Durban World Table Tennis Championships team trials, plus Chen Meng's foot injury, a full 9 people. You know, a total of 16 men's singles participants participated in this selection tournament, 14 women's singles participated, and 9 of the 30 withdrew due to injury, with a loss rate of up to 30%. This also greatly affected the smooth running of the game.

Lin Shidong is the best young player in the opening year of 2023, and Ku Man's mixed doubles won multiple WTT championships, ranked 23rd in the world, and was also listed by the Japanese media as one of the most noteworthy new stars. His withdrawal also prevents us from seeing his current position in the team.

Needless to say, Chen Meng and Wang Manyu are the absolute main players of the women's team.

Some fans questioned the meaning of continuing the game: What is the meaning of this game to the end? It's not about technology, it's about resistance, right? Relying on resistance to Durban?

Of course, maybe their participation will not change the final champion, but the excitement of the competition will definitely be much better.

3. What is the ultimate answer to mixed doubles?

According to the world ranking of mixed doubles, Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha ranked first, and they who won the mixed doubles championship of the World Table Tennis Championships are actually very familiar with each other and are popular candidates for the mixed doubles of National Table Tennis Paris.

In this tryout, Sun Yingsha bluntly said in an interview, "Wang Chuqin and I have put a lot of effort into mixed doubles, and the two of us are very eager to play this project well." ”

But there is an example of Xu Xin/Liu Shiwen in the Tokyo Olympics, and the coaching staff of National Table Tennis has to be cautious - cultivating more mixed doubles strong gears is the top priority. As a result, Ma Long/Chen Meng, Fan Zhendong/Wang Manyu, Lin Gaoyuan/Chen Xingtong also came into being.

Lin Gaoyuan/Chen Xingtong finally won the championship, which was a bit surprising, but also left regrets.

After all, combinations such as Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha (7th), Ma Long/Chen Meng (7th), Fan Zhendong/Wang Manyu (3rd) and other combinations have not been able to perform at their best due to physical reasons, and the training effect of the event is also greatly reduced. But the good news is that the mixed doubles direct quota of the World Table Tennis Championships is selected from the combination of the champions in the two competitions. As Xiao Zhan, the leader of the mixed doubles team, said, "Even if we finish second in both races, there is no chance of getting a direct place, we just have to test who can win the final match." ”

The goal of the national table tennis coaching staff is so clear, the competition in mixed doubles will definitely be more fierce in the future.

Considering that the main players of the national table tennis now have mixed doubles at the same time, it is unknown whether the Paris Olympics will send players like Xu Xin/Liu Shiwen who are fully pounced on doubles, or players who take care of both single and doubles. But the competition for mixed doubles in Paris has already begun.

In the next tryout, when the main players have recovered from injury, the mixed doubles competition will be even more exciting. We also expect more surprises such as Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha, Ma Long/Chen Meng, Fan Zhendong/Wang Manyu - after all, for the mixed doubles of the national table tennis team, Durban is not the end, Paris is.