On the evening of September 30, the mixed doubles final of the Hangzhou Asian Games staged the national table tennis "derby battle" at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium, Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha and Lin Gaoyuan/Wang Yidi met in a narrow road, and after 5 rounds of battle, the "Shatou" combination defeated Lin Gaoyuan/Wang Yidi 4-1 to defend the championship. The 5-game scores were 11-6, 11-8, 13-15, 11-4 and 11-9.
Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, both born in 2000, have shown extraordinary strength and tacit understanding in the mixed doubles event, ranking first in the mixed doubles world for a long time, and their dominance in this event is unsurpassed. In 2018, Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha shined in the international arena, and in the mixed doubles final of the Asian Games in Jakarta, Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha defeated teammates Lin Gaoyuan/Wang Manyu 4-2, which was a significant title because it was the first Asian Games champion after mixed doubles was officially included in the Olympic program. Later, in the national championship, the two pairs met again in the final, and Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha once again had the last laugh. At the Youth Olympic Games in October, Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha once again competed in the mixed team competition, and in the final, they lived up to expectations by defeating the Japanese pair Tomokazu Chang / Miyu Hirano 2-1, contributing a weighty gold medal to the Chinese delegation.
Entering the Paris Olympic cycle, the world mixed doubles competition is more intense. South Korean pairs such as Zhang Yuzhen/Tian Zhixi, Lim Jongxun/Shin Yubin, Hong Kong's To Kaixuan/Huang Zhenting, etc. are all strong opponents, and the rapid rise of Zhang Motochikazu/Hina Hayata in recent years is also one of the biggest threats to mixed doubles in China.
In the 2023 Durban World Table Tennis Championships, Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha defeated Zhang Benzhihe/Hina Hayata 3-0, achieving two consecutive championships in the mixed doubles event of the World Table Tennis Championships. That duel can be said to be a "replica" of the mixed doubles final of the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships in Houston. At that time, Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha, who played in the mixed doubles event of the World Table Tennis Championships for the first time, defeated the Japanese team pair in straight sets. In addition, in the WTT Singapore Grand Slam final in March this year, the "Shatou" combination once again defeated Tomokazu Changmoto/Hina Hayada.
It can be said that the ace combination of Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha is one of the most successful mixed doubles pairs in the history of table tennis. Not only do they fit perfectly technically, but they also build a strong connection on a tacit and psychological level. Wang Chuqin said frankly that through the baptism of the World Table Tennis Championships, the cooperation between him and Sun Yingsha has become more and more tacit, and he trusts each other more than before.
Having played in the international arena many times, Sun Yingsha believes that her understanding of her partner has been deeper and updated. She said: "Datou (Wang Chuqin) and I have been playing since the Youth Olympic Games until now, and we often communicate and joke in training, we know each other's singles style very well, and now we have a new understanding, mainly to constantly cooperate and find ways to maximize the strengths of both people." There is always a round in the mixed doubles competition when the opposing male team members face me and make me not very comfortable, and at this time the communication between the two people is more important, and we need to constantly adjust on the spot. ”
As the mixed doubles champion of the Durban World Table Tennis Championships, Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha were directly selected into the Hangzhou Asian Games participation list. The other pair of mixed doubles needs to be selected from the Asian Games team lineup, referring to the Asian Games men's and women's team lineup, considering the changes in the mixed doubles matching throughout the selection cycle and the overall ranking and personal ability, National Table Tennis finally selected Lin Gaoyuan/Wang Yidi. In the mixed doubles competition of this Asian Games, the two mixed doubles pairs of national table tennis lived up to expectations, and the foreign association players maintained a winning record and met in the final. In the end, the "Shatou" combination still came out on top, beating his teammates to win the second gold medal of this Asian Games.
On May 15 this year, in the "Table Tennis Project 2024 Paris Olympic Games Selection Measures" published on the official website of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, the mixed doubles event will determine the candidates according to the mixed doubles world ranking on May 7, 2024, and the highest ranked pair will represent the Chinese team in the mixed doubles competition of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and be automatically selected into the Chinese team's men's and women's team team. With the Paris Olympics approaching, Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha's world ranking has always been ahead, and they have accumulated enough psychological advantages to become one of the stable gold points of national table tennis. As long as the Shatou group remains stable, it will not be a problem to continue to dominate the mixed doubles program for the next few years.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Zhou Xueshuai
Editor/Zhang Yingchuan