The head coach of the national table tennis officially spoke! The Asian Games list is about to be released, which is of great significance to the Olympic selection

The 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games is approaching step by step, and the current list of Japanese and South Korean table tennis teams has been released, and the lineup of the host national table tennis side is still holding the pipa half-covered, and has not appeared, but the head coach of national table tennis Li Falcon has made a statement in a recent interview, that is, the list of participants "should be announced in July".

Since the results of this year's Asian Games will directly affect the selection of next year's Olympic Games, it has received special attention from fans and friends, among which the singles list is particularly important, and it is still doubtful whether Ma Long and others will participate.

As we all know, although the Asian Games is a regional competition, because the level of table tennis on this continent is very high, the competition in this event is not inferior to many international competitions. For Chinese and Japanese table tennis players, the significance of the Hangzhou Asian Games is even more extraordinary, because the table tennis associations of both countries have determined that the results of this competition will provide points for the Olympic selection of the team.

Taking the national table tennis as an example, the singles champion of the Asian Games can get as many as 3,000 Olympic points, second only to the World Championships, and the World Cup and WTT Grand Slam tournaments, and the team event also has points from the 1/8 final, which is indeed very important.

Since each association can only send up to two players to register for the Asian Games singles, it is no exaggeration to say that whoever can be selected can occupy a huge advantage in the competition of Olympic selection, after all, the strength of national table tennis players is obvious to all, even if they win the third place, they can get 750 points, and only one teammate competes with themselves, which is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

In fact, as early as 2022, most of the Asian Games list of the national table tennis has been determined, because a selection rule was introduced at that time, which clearly stipulated the method of generating singles and team places, so who was shortlisted?

In singles, Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng were shortlisted for their singles victory at last year's WTT Grand Slam, Ma Long and Sun Yingsha were listed by virtue of the world ranking in the 14th week of 2022, Liang Jingkun and Wang Manyu qualified for the team because they were the top three players in the team at that time, and Wang Chuqin was selected as the highest-ranking athlete born after January 1, 1999.

But as we all know, the Asian Games will be postponed for a year, which also makes the list of national table tennis once again variable, coupled with the reason linked to the Olympic selection, the coaching staff will definitely be more cautious, which is also a common feeling.

Personally, I think that the above seven players will most likely be selected for the team events of the Asian Games, but there is suspense about the singles, doubles and the remaining three team vacancies, mainly including the following two points:

First, will veteran Malone play in singles? After all, if he is shortlisted, he has a greater chance of qualifying for the Olympic singles, and if he gives up, it may mean that the coaching staff is ready to change young people in Paris, so the signal of whether or not to choose the veteran at the Asian Games is very strong.

Secondly, will there be new entrants? At the last Asian Games, Sun Yingsha and Xue Fei participated in the Asian Games as non-main players of the World Series, so will Lin Shidong, Xiang Peng, Qu Man and other non-main young players have similar opportunities this year?

In terms of recent results and status, Fan Zhendong, Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng have little problem playing singles, mixed doubles is likely to be Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha, but because this year's Asian Games resumed men's doubles and women's doubles events, national table tennis is likely to continue to use Lin Shidong and Quang Man in these two items, just like the Durban World Table Tennis Championships lineup, which ended not long ago.

As mentioned earlier, even the team competition of the Asian Games can provide Olympic points from the 1/8 final, so how the coaching staff is lined up will also affect the future of the athletes - if someone of the top ten main players of the national table tennis cannot even report the team competition, or does not play, it means that he is already outside the attention of the coaching staff, and the possibility of losing the Olympic Games is very large.

What athletes do you think National Table Tennis will eventually choose to participate in the Asian Games? Who do you like to win the championship? Welcome to leave a message to discuss and write your own prediction together!