Cai Zhenhua, former deputy director of the General Administration of Sports, chairman of the Football Association, vice chairman and secretary of the Secretariat of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, is a famous table tennis player. He is characterized by left-handed crosshair, two-sided attack combined with arc play, and aggressive and fierce attack.
Cai Zhenhua, 1961, from Wuxi, Jiangsu. We all know that interest is innate, and Cai Zhenhua explains this very well. When others were 2 or 3 years old and playing games, he would play table tennis all day. His parents saw that he was so fascinated by table tennis, so they devoted themselves to nurturing him.
When he was 7 years old, he entered Wuxi Sports School, and after a short few months of training, Cai Zhenhua actually won the championship at a Wuxi junior table tennis tournament, which was immediately impressive.
Seeing that he was so talented, his father focused more on training, so he took him to swim every day, swimming can exercise people's overall coordination, and later Cai Zhenhua said that in fact, his swimming level is very high.
In 1973, Cai Zhenhua moved from Wuxi Sports School to Nanjing Sports Team, became an official athlete, and began his brilliant life in the table tennis world.
In just a few years, from 1978 to 1985, Cai Zhenhua won several championships. Here are some of the awards he has won as an athlete, let's briefly list them:
In 1979, he won the men's team championship of the World Table Tennis Championships.
In 1980, he won the men's team at the 5th Asian Championships, the runner-up in the men's doubles (partner Shi Zhihao), and the third place in mixed doubles (with Qi Baoxiang).
In 1981, the 36th World Table Tennis Championships men's doubles champion (partner Li Zhenkai), men's singles runner-up, men's team champion.
In 1983, the 37th World Table Tennis Championships men's singles runner-up, mixed doubles third (partner Cao Yanhua), men's team champion.
In 1985, the 38th World Table Tennis Championships mixed doubles champion (partner Cao Yanhua), men's doubles third (partner Jiang Jialiang).
After 1985, he was sent to Italy as a coach, and in more than three years, Italy's table tennis level has improved greatly, from the beginning of the unknown to the seventh place in the World Table Tennis Championships. For a country that does not excel in table tennis, this is already a qualitative leap, so he is known as the "godfather of table tennis" in the Italian table tennis scene.
In 1989, he received a call from the national team and resolutely returned to China with his pregnant wife to become a national team coach, and here is a list of some of his achievements as a coach:
In 1991, he won the men's team competition of the 2nd World Cup.
Men's doubles champion at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
In 1995, he won the 43rd World Table Tennis Championships men's team champion.
He won the men's singles and men's doubles championship at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
In 1997, he won the 44th World Table Tennis Championships men's team champion.
He won six championships at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.
1998 Women's World Cup singles champion and runner-up.
In 1998, he won the first and second place in four individual events on the World Professional Circuit.
In 1999, he won six championships in the 45th World Table Tennis Championships.
Sydney 2000 won four championships, three runners-up and one third place.
In 2001, the 46th World Table Tennis Championships won seven championships, four runners-up and five third places.
Winner of the 2002 Men's and Women's World Cup.
In 2003, the 47th World Table Tennis Championships won four championships.
He won the 2003 Men's World Cup, won four individual events and three runners-up in the Professional Tour Finals.
In 2003, the 8th Women's World Cup won the first and second place and finished third.
2004 Qatar World Table Tennis Championships men's and women's team champion.
He won three championships at the 2004 Athens Olympics, one runner-up and two third placers.
It is precisely because of his brilliant achievements in his 26-year sports career that he has won the "National Sports Honor" medal issued by the National Sports Commission 10 times
It cannot be said that without Cai Zhenhua, China's table tennis will not have the current results, but at least his position in China's table tennis has not been shaken so far.
It is precisely because of these outstanding achievements that he led the team to achieve that the superior leaders further promoted him to deputy director of the General Administration of Sports, chairman of the Football Association, and vice chairman and secretary of the Secretariat of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.
Cai Zhenhua, who is in his sixties this year, has retired at home, but he is not idle at home, and often attends various table tennis activities, and even personally shares his playing experience with the younger generation.
In the 37 years of being close to his wife Huang Sheng, Huang Sheng turned out to be a Yue opera actor in the Beijing Hongqi Yue Opera Troupe. In 1983, I met Cai Zhenhua through the introduction of a friend, and Huang Sheng did not know him as a celebrity in the table tennis world because she rarely paid attention to sports events.
After getting acquainted, Cai Zhenhua often went to the crew to watch her performance, and Huang Sheng's most attractive thing about Cai Zhenhua was his personality. Although both of them are southerners, their personalities are surprisingly northern, and Huang Sheng has an atmosphere that is rare in ordinary women in dealing with people.
But after getting acquainted, Huang Sheng learned that this young man turned out to be a famous world champion in the table tennis world, and she knew that being a celebrity spouse was destined to be an extraordinary life.
Since then, she has deliberately distanced herself from Cai Zhenhua, and after Cai Zhenhua knew the reason, he confessed to her that he only regarded table tennis as a job and did not care about fame and fortune. Huang Sheng had actually fallen in love with Cai Zhenhua in his heart, and hearing him say this instantly dispelled his concerns.
It is said that once after getting married, Cai Zhenhua handed over her salary to Huang Sheng, and she took it with a smile and put it in the drawer without looking at how much money was inside, maybe this is why Cai Zhenhua likes her.
Cai Zhenhua's mother actually likes to listen to Yue opera very much. After the two met, Cai Zhenhua said to his mother with a smile: "Mom, it will be convenient for you to listen to Yue opera in the future, and your daughter-in-law is a Yue opera actor." The old lady nodded with a smile and said, "It's singing Hua Dan, right?" Cai Zhenhua quickly said yes, he didn't understand what Hua Dan was and what Xiaosheng was, and Huang Sheng actually sang Xiaosheng.
Later, Chen Jiayuan and Du Zhaocai of the Football Association were investigated one after another, and many relevant people of the General Administration of Sports were investigated for suspected serious violations of discipline and law, and the Internet accused Cai Zhenhua, former deputy director of the Sports Bureau and president of the Football Association, that he was also involved in the case.
His wife Huang Sheng domineeringly refuted the rumor: "He hasn't been in the sports bureau for five years, and he accompanies his hospitalized old mother whenever he has time, and I know best what he has done." ”
Now retired Cai Zhenhua is still playing his spare time for the development of Chinese sports, some time ago a movie about the theme of table tennis was to be released, 62-year-old Cai Zhenhua picked up a racket again to promote Chinese table tennis, and even played table tennis with Deng Chao, the actor of the protagonist of the movie.