Profiles of five outstanding national table tennis players
The Chinese national table tennis team, this "dream team", can be said to be the symbol and pride of the entire Chinese sports world. However, behind this aura, there are also five extremely powerful and ill-fated team members, who could have achieved more brilliant careers, but all suffered accidents at critical moments and finally failed to reach the highest peak of their lives.
The first is Chen Xi, who was born in an ordinary family in Nantong, Jiangsu Province in 1983. Mastered with a ferocious left-handed style, he has been in and out of the national team three times and won the men's doubles gold medal at Athens 2004 with Marin.
He was talented and powerful, but because of his short temper and deceitful intra-team competition, he eventually missed many important opportunities.
The second is Guo Yue, born in Anshan, Liaoning Province in 1988, she is known as a "genius girl", with amazing innate advantages and talents, she won the Olympic women's doubles bronze medal in Athens, and won the women's singles championship at the World Table Tennis Championships at the age of 19.
But years of injury torture ended her short and brilliant career, and she left at the age of 26, becoming the most lingering regret of national table tennis.
The third is Liu Shiwen, born in Fushun, Liaoning Province in 1991. She has excellent basic skills and tactical level, and was once known as "Little Deng Yaping", and her strength can be called the top.
However, the psychological state of repeated defeats and the misjudgment of the coach became a stumbling block on her way to the highest peak.
The fourth is Fang Bo, born in Xianning, Hubei Province in 1992, whose powerful forehand has terrified all opponents. In 2015, he successfully entered the main team of the national team and reached the final of the World Table Tennis Championships.
However, he missed out on his best ascent and then missed out on another chance to compete at the top level. The fifth is Zhu Yuling, a native of Mianyang, Sichuan in 1995, she used to be the spokesperson of a new star that everyone had high hopes for, and her light once overshadowed Chen Meng in the same period.
Chen Xi: The talent is extremely high, and his temper and fate hinder him
In 1983, in Nantong, Jiangsu, Chen Xi was born in an ordinary family. At the age of 6, Chen Xi came into contact with table tennis for the first time and showed extraordinary talent.
On the table, he always dares to fight, attacks fiercely, and his left-handed style is even more astonishing. However, the impulsiveness and restlessness in his character also indicate the ill-fated nature of his life.
At the age of 16, Chen Xi was selected for the national team as he wished, but left in embarrassment after just 18 days. Because after a game loss, he broke his racket in anger and was considered to have no quality for the national team.
More than a year later, Chen Xi entered the national team for the second time and his performance was much more stable. But it was abandoned again half a year later because of the bad attitude after losing the game.
In 2002, 19-year-old Chen Xi was selected for the national team for the third time. Liu Guoliang, the newly retired "national ball", became his head coach and strictly required him to correct various problems in his temper.
Under the careful training of Liu Guoliang and Wang Liqin, Chen Xi gradually grew into a good player with a stable mentality. He partnered with Marin to win the men's doubles gold medal at the Athens Olympics, beating several pairs.
This is also the highlight of Chen Xi's career.
However, the good times did not last long, Liu Guoliang only took Chen Xi for more than a year before leaving, and he was assigned to Wu Jingping. Wu Jingping was also impressed by Chen Xi, but if he wanted to train a relay for the Beijing Olympics, he could only give up.
At this point, Chen Xi has no chance to upgrade. After that, it encountered frequent changes in the training system, and was forever fixed in the third echelon of the national team.
It was not until 2013 that Chen Xi, who was from Jiangsu, announced his retirement. He has been in and out of the national team three times and has repeatedly missed the peak. With his extremely high talent, he could have been among the top masters like Ma Long and Zhang Jike, but his temper and fate eventually became a stumbling block for this adventurous player to reach the highest peak.
To this day, national table tennis fans still feel great regret about Chen Xi's career.
Guo Yue: The genius girl has become an eternal regret
In 1988, an eight-year-old girl made her debut in Anshan, Liaoning Province, and she easily won the championship in the city's peer competition, and her talent and potential amazed everyone.
She was Guo Yue, who was later called "Genius Girl".
However, the prodigy's good fortune was short-lived. At the age of 14, Guo Yue entered the national team as he wished. Everyone is looking forward to what a brilliant future this girl will have.
Sure enough, two years later at the Athens Olympics, 16-year-old Guo Yue and his partner Niu Jianfeng won the bronze medal in women's doubles, shining for the first time.
But the good times did not last long, and a series of honors soon filled the vanity of the young girl. Guo Yue became complacent, trained less hard, and became addicted to online games.
Her competitive form took a sharp turn for the worse, and she was soon abandoned by the national team and sent back to the provincial team for reflection.
This is undoubtedly the first major blow in Guo Yue's life. Fortunately, with the help of his family and mentor, Guo Yue gradually regained his state. At the age of 19, she returned to the national team and won her first world championship gold medal at the World Table Tennis Championships.
At this time, Guo Yue seemed to have returned to the altar, and everyone once again had high hopes for her. The Beijing Olympics was supposed to be the four years that this 20-year-old genius girl bloomed with light and heat.
However, a black reversal is quietly widening - the clouds of injuries are beginning to loom, the feud with the manager is intensifying, and the rise of rookies is disrupting the situation. Under the superposition of these factors, Guo Yue only won the gold medal in the women's team in the Olympic Games that belonged to her in 08.
After the Beijing Olympics, Guo Yue's accumulated injuries began to spread like a snowball. At the same time, new stars such as Li Xiaoxia and Liu Shiwen have quietly risen. Guo Yue gradually lost his place in the team.
At the age of 26, she chose to end her career early and retired from the national team.
There is no more appropriate evaluation of Guo Yue's experience in the world than "eternal regret". With amazing talent and strength, she could have achieved brilliant feats and enjoyed the peak time for more than ten years.
But all good things are short-lived extravagances, and in 8 years, the brightest new star will be destroyed in the dust. Looking back on Guo Yue now, fans will still sigh deeply, because what we lost was a legend that could have been more successful.
Liu Shiwen: Strong but repeatedly defeated
In 1991, Liu Shiwen was born in an ordinary working family. But her mother, Wang Lifeng, was a professional table tennis player. Perhaps genes determine Liu Shiwen's extraordinary talent, and since the age of 4, she has been learning this sport with her mother Xi.
At the age of 11, Liu Shiwen entered the Guangdong team through layers of selection as she wished.
However, a more difficult road is also beginning here. In order to have a better development for her daughter, her mother Wang Lifeng decided to send her to Guangzhou and was assigned to the famous marshal Zhang Jingqing for training.
No one knows that it is this moment that lays down the trajectory of Liu Shiwen's fate after that.
Zhang Jingqing is Wang Nan's enlightenment teacher, she placed high hopes on Liu Shiwen, and instilled in her the belief that "as long as you are selected for the national team, you can go home". Liu Shiwen, who yearns for the national team, resolutely faced the pain of separating her family and grew up with amazing perseverance and talent.
Finally, at the age of 16, she got her wish and came to the national team of her dreams.
That year, Liu Shiwen also won the national championship. Everyone is praising the appearance of the "genius girl". In 2009, Liu Shiwen won the World Cup, and was praised by the media as the future "first sister" and "little Deng Yaping".
An 18-year-old girl seems to have become famous overnight, and her future is bright. However, there are always some turbulent waves in life. In the final of the 2010 World Table Tennis Championships, Liu Shiwen was arranged by the coach to play, but unexpectedly lost and sent away two points, resulting in the Chinese team only winning the runner-up.
This match became a turning point in her fate. The blame for her lack of mental maturity fell on the girl again, and she missed all the chances of the Olympics after that.
Looking back now, I wonder if this arrangement and consequences were too cruel. The revenge of fate is much more than that. After the 2015 World Table Tennis Championships in Suzhou, Liu Shiwen was once abandoned by the national team. finally won the World Championships in 2019, but suffered a double blow of surgery and the epidemic.
Now 31 years old, she is destined to leave eternal regrets on the golden sign of the Olympic Games. For the brilliant future of that 18-year-old genius girl, we can't help but sigh. She could have achieved more brilliance, but in the end, all she was left with was chicken feathers.
Zhu Yuling: The new star falls before it rises
In 1995, Zhu Yuling was born in a wealthy family in Mianyang, Sichuan. But fate makes people, she has not been in good health since she was a child. So, at the suggestion of a friend, 5-year-old Zhu Yuling was sent to a table tennis training class.
Originally, it was just to strengthen her body, but it made her extraordinary life.
Under the careful training of the enlightenment coach, Zhu Yuling performed well and was soon selected for the provincial team. At the age of 18, Zhu Yuling joined the Chinese national team as she wished and was regarded as one of the most potential rookies of the Chinese table tennis team.
thought that everything had just begun, but in 2013, Zhu Yuling participated in the World Championships for the first time and won two bronze medals. What's even more surprising is that compared with newcomer Chen Meng in the same period, Zhu Yuling's talent and potential seem to be higher.
As a result, everyone is praising that this will be the four years of Zhu Yuling's brilliant bloom.
However, life is often full of turbulent waves. In the inseparable competition with Chen Meng, Zhu Yuling slowly gained the upper hand. Originally, according to the ladder, she would be a strong contender to win gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
However, in several encounters with Japan's rookie Misei Ito, Zhu Yuling lost all of them, and thus lost her seat in the Olympic team.
No one expected that an even bigger blow was yet to come. After the Tokyo Olympics, Zhu Yuling disclosed the news of her thyroid cancer through her social account. For a time, "Zhu Yuling" became a topic of discussion among national table tennis fans.
Originally, everyone had high hopes for the Paralympic Games and the Paris Olympics, but now everything has become extremely slim.
A new star that should have been even brighter suddenly fell before it could take off. Zhu Yuling used to be the most promising rookie to take over the three female generals in everyone's minds, and now that I think about it, her short career may always be an unforgettable memory.
What we lost was not just a player, but a young life that could have been rebuilt.
The cruelty and accidents of sports
Many people say that sports is a career full of suspense and passion, and the ups and downs that athletes experience on the field are the true meaning of life. But in fact, in addition to the glamorous, sports are more cruel and ruthless.
The five national table tennis players we talked about earlier are the epitome of the cruelty of sports. They are all super strong and talented players. But in the end, they all lost to the pranks of fate at critical moments, and they missed the slightest mistake and missed their brilliant careers.
Actually, it's not just the five of them. Sport is full of variables at every turn. Accidents that may occur at any time during the competition are enough to change the trajectory of an athlete's fate that seems to be smooth sailing.
This is where competitive sports are brutal, and it is also an issue that we need to pay attention to and pay attention to at all times.
For athletes, in the face of various unknowns, it is particularly important to adjust and control their mentality. Because that may be the key to distinguishing success from failure, glory from gloom.
This is also something that every sports worker needs to keep in mind and reflect on at all times.