Guest of this issue: Ma Wenge, former world champion of table tennis
Today's highlights: table tennis men's singles third round
After a seven-set battle, Xu Xin/Liu Shiwen had a heavy face, and although they had led 2-0 and caught up despite falling behind 0-8, the "Xinwen Simulcast" combination eventually passed by the mixed doubles gold medal. Although it is regrettable to miss the first gold of the Table Tennis Olympics, it is only by summing up the defeat to win success, and the table tennis feast belonging to the Tokyo Olympics has just begun.
As early as the end of the Rio Olympics, Japanese table tennis had said that it would stand on the highest podium when fighting on the Tokyo Olympics. The host is menacing, and the loss of mixed doubles can be seen in the crisis of the follow-up gold road of the national table tennis. This is not only reminiscent of the 1990s, when several European players at their peak plunged the national table tennis into a long-term trough, and during that time a new star of table tennis emerged in China, Ma Wenge.
Born in 1968, Ma Wenge was the main player of the first generation of national table tennis to play cross-sided arc balls, and it is not an exaggeration to call him a pioneer in the era of Chinese table tennis to the era of spinning balls. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Ma Wenge finished third among a group of European athletes.
Looking back at Barcelona, Ma Wenge still remembers it vividly, and the transcendence of himself in the group stage was the key to his eventual bronze medal. "It was the best time of Person's and Waldner's careers, as well as a rising star, Czech Player Kobel. In this previous table tennis tournament, I had been losing to Kerber in the team competition, and at the Barcelona Olympics I happened to be in the same group as Kerber. Ma Wenge said. At that time, there were four people in the men's singles group, and the single round robin format was adopted, and only one person could qualify from the group, which was a very severe form. In the face of his old opponents who lost more than they won, Ma Wenge was somewhat intimidated in his heart, "Before the Military Olympics, we already saw the group list. Because I have lost to Kerber many times, and his technical and tactical play is just aimed at me, I am a little unconfident in terms of mentality. ”
Ma Wenge, who came to Barcelona, won the first battle easily, and the direct battle with Kerber to a certain extent determined the team's qualifying situation. Although it was only a group stage, it was no less significant to Ma Wenge than the finals. "Since it would be a three-game, two-win format, there was very little time left for athletes to adjust on the field. I lost to Korbel in the first set, fell behind 9-16 in the second set, and finally chased a 20-19 lead to win the second set. The third set was once a 20-20 draw, and it can be said that the match with Kerber was a narrow win in every set, and finally reversed 2-1. Although it has been many years, Ma Wenge still clearly and accurately recalls every key score point 29 years ago.
After winning the battle against Kerber, Ma Wenge gnawed down Bartharone's "hardest bone." After qualifying from the group, Ma Wenge easily reached the quarterfinals, and in the final four, he defeated Person 3-0 to advance to the final four. "It can be said that the victory over Kerber is a key node in the rebuilding of confidence in my Olympic journey." In the semi-finals, facing the popular French player Gaiting, Ma Wenge's 18-13 lead in the first set was unfortunately reversed, and then the two fought until the fifth set, and finally Gaiting won the game to enter the finals, and Ma Wenge won the third place. Although it was a bronze medal, during the difficult period of the national table tennis men's team at that time, Ma Wenge was the only national table tennis player who could compete with strong European opponents in the singles field, which also gave him a special status and value in history.
After the baptism of Barcelona, the national table tennis players gradually stood out, and Chinese table tennis gradually stood firm in the world hegemony. Now under heavy pressure, the national table tennis to once again launch an impact on the olympic podium, as the older generation of national table tennis seniors, when asked what he wanted to say to the national players, Ma Wenge smiled modestly, and then said: "When we play, it will basically be around the World Championships, the World Cup Asian Games and the Olympic Games to prepare, and there are no other major competitions." Now the players participate in many competitions every year, in fact, their experience in the competition is much richer than ours. ”
For the national table tennis trip to Tokyo, Ma Wenge repeatedly mentioned the keyword of "mentality", "Ma Long is a Grand Slam player, Xu Xin and Fan Zhendong are all in the competition, so their skills and tactics have long been tempered and have strong experience, the most important thing for them is to adjust their mentality." Ma Wenge bluntly said that the current pressure on national table tennis comes from many aspects, athletes themselves; the growth of players in other countries and the high attention of the outside world, etc., "Everyone will always give the title of 'king' to national table tennis, thinking that we cannot lose any competition, and in fact, there is a loss and a win is competitive sports." Ma Wenge said.
The veteran who once surpassed himself in the Olympic arena can better understand and understand the thoughts and states of the national table tennis players. "We can't judge how an athlete plays in a big competition in training, in fact, in a heavyweight competition like the Olympic Games, athletes can play 70% of their level in training is already a high level, and few people can do 100%. At present, the 11-point contest in a single game is indeed more difficult, the athletes have less room to adjust, and under the blessing of technology and data, in fact, the skills and tactics of players from all over the world are relatively transparent. In this case, the mentality is absolutely in the first place, who has a strong ability to resist pressure, who can laugh to the end. ”