Wang Manyu returned to the top three in the world singles ranking, and the most important thing in experiencing the bottleneck period was to overcome herself
On September 12, the ITTF announced the world ranking in the 37th week of 2023, and Wang Manyu, who won the Asian Championships women's singles championship, surpassed her teammates Wang Yidi and Chen Xingtong to return to the world's top three.
As one of the players with the highest technical quality in women's table tennis, Wang Manyu's backhand and forehand are quite good, and her playing style is stable and offensive, and she is a representative player of women's playing style of manhood. After winning the women's team championship at the Tokyo Olympics, Wang Manyu rose to a new level in the new Olympic cycle. She has won the women's singles championship of the National Games and the Houston World Table Tennis Championships, and has become a member of the women's team trio in the national table tennis women's team. However, due to the decline in her form due to injuries, coupled with the "parting of ways" with Xiao Zhan, the head coach who has coached her for five years, her form and results have fluctuated greatly, and she has fallen into a relatively long bottleneck period.
By the time the Asian Championships began, Wang Manyu's world ranking had slipped to fifth. In May this year, the Chinese Table Tennis Association announced the national table tennis selection rules for the Paris Olympics, in which the top three players in the world will be selected for the team competition. In the semifinals and finals of the Asian Championship women's team competition, Wang Manyu did not finish in the top three, so she did not have a chance to play in the women's team final, let alone win team points.
In the women's singles competition, Wang Manyu defeated Chen Meng and Wang Yidi 3-2 in the women's singles 1/4 final and semifinals. In the women's singles final, the "derby" between Wang Manyu and Sun Yingsha, who is world number one in the women's singles, became the focus. The two sides fought for five games, and in the end, Wang Manyu won 3-2, winning the first Asian Championship title of her career and the 21st Asian Championship women's singles championship won by the Chinese table tennis team.
For Wang Manyu, winning the Asian Championships may be a turning point, with firm belief and tenacious will, she won the women's singles, women's doubles and team championships. After previous injuries and tribulations, her mentality and technique have been doubled. "The opponents in every round of this Asian Championship are very strong, so I always tell myself to focus on the moment and fight every game. It's a pleasure to win the championship, which is a boost in my confidence and a breakthrough for myself. Wang Manyu said.
After all the competitions of this Asian Championships, Li Feng, the head coach of the Chinese table tennis team, also fully affirmed Wang Manyu's performance, saying: "Excellent athletes are very clear about some of their problems, but it is very difficult to really beat themselves. This competition should be said to be very stressful for Wang Manyu, not only to overcome the opponent in the difficulty, but more importantly to overcome himself. I think she has returned to her peak state in terms of mentality and technical and tactical application, which is gratifying. ”
Text/Beiqing Sports Zhou Xueshuai