On the evening of August 11, 2016, the men's singles bronze medal battle for table tennis at the 2016 Rio Olympics was played by Belarusian Samsonov
Just as all sports people are looking forward to the Tokyo Olympics, Belarusian table tennis star Samsonov announced his retirement on Thursday local time. The opponent, affectionately known as "Lao Sa" by Chinese fans, silently ended his long career.
His hanging shot actually looks like there are traces. A few days ago, Samsonov withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics. At the age of 45, he may not have the energy to support another World Series. With the retirement of Lao Sa, his hopes of winning an Olympic medal were completely dashed.
As the "patriarch of the six dynasties" of the Olympic Games, Samsonov has always dreamed of standing on the podium since his first participation in the Atlanta Olympic Games. But in the 20 years from 1996 to 2016, Samsono's best result at the Olympics was only to reach the final four.
Belarusian veteran Samsonov at the Rio Olympics
If you put aside the "dismal" record at the Olympic Games, Lao Sa has won honors that most athletes cannot match in other international competitions. Even if he looks at the international table tennis world, his experience is enough to be called legendary.
Samsonov was known as the "Three European Tigers" in his early years alongside Sweden's Waldner and Croatia's Primoratc. It was with them that the men's table tennis scene at that time was extremely intense. Today, all three of them have left the arena one after another, leaving only fragments of their youth for fans to reminisce.
Since entering the professional table tennis scene in 1995, Samsonov has played with five generations of national table tennis players. From Wang Tao and Ma Wenge at the beginning to Liu Guoliang and Kong Linghui, and then met Wang Liqin, Ma Lin, Wang Hao, Chen Xuan, etc., to Ma Long and Zhang Jike, and even "post-95" Fan Zhendong and Lin Gaoyuan... Samsonov has survived from the original "little Sa" to "old Sa", and his long career has also left precious memories for the world table tennis.
Belarusian Samsonov at the Rio Olympics
In the 1999 Table Tennis World Cup, Samsonov defeated Kong Linghui in the group stage, and then passed the hurdles all the way to win his first World Cup title. Two years later, he swept Wang Liqin in the final and won the highest award of the World Cup again.
For a long time thereafter, Samsonov did not touch the world championship again. Although he is still strong in Europe, as he grows older, fans are already wondering: Is Samsonov old?
Fast forward to 2009, and the 33-year-old Samsonov once again shocked the table tennis world. In the World Cup, he even ke the main players of national table tennis Ma Long and Chen Xuan, and won the third World Cup championship in his career, second only to the four crowns of national table tennis stars Ma Lin and Fan Zhendong.
In addition to holding three World Cup men's singles titles, Samsonov also had a record of being proud. He has won a total of 27 titles on the ITTF Tour. This record was not surpassed by Malone until the 2019 China Open.
In the 2016 Rio Olympic Table Tennis Men's Singles Bronze Medal Battle, Japan's Hayabusa Mizutani won the bronze medal with a 4-1 victory over Belarusian Samsonov
In the face of the intensive table tennis schedule in recent years, Samsonov, who is no longer young, has gradually decreased. He can no longer train as intensely as he did when he was younger. After each game, he also needs more time to recover. However, as long as he stands on the field, he will still fight with a scrappy posture.
At last year's Qatar Open, he also beat Lin Gaoyuan, a new generation of national table tennis players, in the first round. But the passage of time eventually affected Lao Sa's physical strength and batting speed, and his record deteriorated, and he eventually missed last year's World Cup.
Samsonov spent most of his life associated with table tennis. After retiring, he will most likely continue to work in this beloved field. Than winning or losing, Samsonov is more concerned about the future development of European table tennis, and he hopes that with the passage of time, European table tennis players can change the pattern of world table tennis.
When such a dedicated veteran leaves the arena, all we can do is send him the most sincere wishes. Although his career of more than 20 years was not complete, when he was loyal to what he loved and insisted on it, he deserved everyone's applause.
Text/Xing Rui
Photography / Sheng Jiapeng
Editor/Xu Zhao