In October 1975, Kong Linghui was born into a sports family in Northeast China. His father, Kong Xiangzhi, was a player on the provincial table tennis team, and his mother, Gu Shuxia, was a caring people's teacher.
However, Kong Linghui's birth was extremely unsmooth, and his mother was on the verge of death during childbirth, and even the newborn was dying. Fortunately, under the unremitting rescue of the doctors, both mother and son were closed from the ghost gate and saved their lives.
"If you don't die in a great calamity, you will have a blessing. Seeing his grandson miraculously surviving, Kong Linghui's grandfather was overjoyed and named him "Linghui", placing high hopes on him to have a bright life in the future.
However, Kong Linghui, who has just turned 6 years old, has not yet realized the meaning of "Houfu". His father, Kong Xiangzhi, became a table tennis coach after retiring, and he saw his son inherit his excellent table tennis talent and regarded him as his number one disciple.
In order to enhance Kong Linghui's psychological quality and ability to resist pressure, Kong Xiangzhi arranged for him to train and fight against older players. At the beginning, Kong Linghui always lost to teammates who were more experienced than himself, but he was never discouraged, and repeatedly summarized and analyzed his mistakes with his father, and then corrected his mistakes and strengthened his tactics through a lot of practice.
In this grinding process, the 12-year-old Kong Linghui gradually showed his edge, won the attention and reuse of the national team coach Cai Zhenhua, and was able to join the national team that was at a low point at that time, starting his 19-year national team career.
After entering the national team, Kong Linghui was like a fish in water and quickly grew into a new star of Chinese men's table tennis. At that time, Chinese table tennis was in a downturn, facing strong challenges from European and Asian opponents.
In order to reverse the decline of the table tennis world, the national team decided to vigorously cultivate a new generation of "baby soldiers" for future succession. The 14-year-old Kong Linghui is the most outstanding presence in this group of young players.
In 1989, he won the singles championship of the National Junior Championship and the Asian Junior Championship, and became famous in one fell swoop. Two years later, 16-year-old Kong Linghui took the lead on the podium of the National Championships, team-winning the men's team championship with his teammates, and won the men's team championship for the Chinese team since 1985.
Despite being a supporting role, the victory announced Kong Linghui's birth as a rising star. Three years later, at the World Youth Championships, at the age of 19, he won three championships in men's singles, men's team and mixed doubles, and officially became the main force of the national first team.
At this time, Kong Linghui was already famous at home and abroad. He is brave and enterprising, and his active online style of play has brought great pressure to his opponents, and he is recognized as the leader of the new generation of national table tennis.
However, behind the scenes, the teenager Kong Linghui has been under unimaginable pressure. He must prove his ability to take on great responsibilities, otherwise he will become a passerby in the history of table tennis.
This made him tense his nerves all the time and work hard. Fortunately, with the unwavering support of his teammates and coaches, Kong Linghui has achieved his future glory.
In 1995, the Chinese table tennis team came to Tianjin to participate in the World Championships. In the previous two World Championships, the Chinese team failed to win the championship and was eager to regain glory. The 20-year-old Kong Linghui was selected for the national team for the first time to participate in the world's highest-level multi-sport event, but he was not allowed to play in the team competition due to his young age.
Fortunately, with the efforts of the veteran players, the Chinese team regained the men's team championship of the World Table Tennis Championships after 6 years.
After the team competition, it is time for the singles competition. For many years, the Chinese team has been at a disadvantage around the world, and the last men's singles player to win a major tournament was six years ago.
Several players in the competition this time, such as Wang Tao and Ma Wenge, are all singles weaknesses, and rookies Kong Linghui and Liu Guoliang, who are also young, do not have too many expectations.
However, unexpectedly, the two youngsters defeated strong opponents one after another, reached the semi-finals, and gritted their teeth to win gold, silver and bronze medals, and swept the top three in the medal table. This was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the Chinese team in the decline of the table tennis world at that time.
In the final, Kong Linghui and his friend Liu Guoliang competed for the gold medal. In the end, the 20-year-old Kong Linghui defeated his opponent by a big score and won the championship. He thus became the youngest world champion in the history of Chinese table tennis and the first crossboarder to win this honor.
After the victory, Kong Linghui couldn't hide his excitement and waved to the audience, his face full of youthful brilliance. However, after the game, when teammates and coaches came to congratulate, Kong Linghui and Liu Guoliang cried bitterly in the locker room, hugging their heads and crying.
The two young men in their early 20s have to take on the important task of revitalizing Chinese table tennis and winning glory for the country, and the pressure can be imagined.
After winning the World Table Tennis Championships, Kong Linghui's life entered the first peak, and his status in the table tennis world was more established. However, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 25-year-old tasted the pain of defeat.
In the men's singles event, which was expected to be highly, Kong Linghui lost to the South Korean opponent in the semifinals and missed the gold medal. Although he partnered with Liu Guoliang and later won the men's doubles gold medal, compared to Liu Guoliang, who perfectly achieved the "double championship", Kong Linghui could only play a supporting role in this Olympic Games.
The shadow of defeat made Kong Linghui demoralized and hit hard, and some people in domestic public opinion questioned his strength. However, after deep introspection, Kong Linghui, who was 25 years old and in the prime of life, soon rekindled his determination to compete for gold.
He realised that Sydney 2000 would be his best chance to achieve a Grand Slam and win honours. So, he began a brutal self-whipping and recovery training.
For many hours after waking up early every day, Kong Linghui would concentrate on hitting the ball, batting, and repeatedly honing his skills. He knows that it will not be easy to defeat long-time rival Waldner, and that only rigorous physical training can keep him in high shape in the final.
After four years of hard training, Kong Linghui finally returned to the top in Sydney. In the men's singles final, he and Waldner went back and forth, and the score was deadlocked.
Just when everyone thought that Kong Linghui was going to lose again, he showed an unusually calm and tenacious fighting spirit at a critical moment. In the end, the 25-year-old overcame his rivals and won his first Olympic gold medal.
The battle in Sydney not only established Kong Linghui's position in the history of Chinese table tennis, but also allowed him to achieve the Grand Slam while claiming the last Olympic Games of the "small ball era".
In the 2001 World Table Tennis Championships, the Chinese team sent a lineup of favorites to win the championship. But as everyone knows, a rout has quietly come. When facing the South Korean team in the semi-finals, Kong Linghui, who was the No. 1 main player, unexpectedly suffered two clean sheets, and his prospects were very worrying.
Fortunately, Liu Guozheng, an old teammate, stepped forward and saved multiple match points in a row in the face of Kim Taek-so, the number one player of the South Korean team, and finally pulled the situation to 1:1 and helped the Chinese team escape from death.
At that moment, Kong Linghui was so excited that he burst into tears. Thanks to Liu Guozheng's selfless dedication, his frustration due to two failures was finally relieved. In the final, the Chinese team also regrouped and united, and finally defeated the Swedish team 3:0 to regain the World Table Tennis Championships.
When standing on the podium with his teammates, Kong Linghui could no longer suppress the joy and emotion in his heart. At that moment, he realized the value of team-mate camaraderie.
One day in 2002, Kong Linghui attended a social gathering held after the conclusion of the Asian Games in Busan. At the meeting, the "Prince of Table Tennis" met an actor Ma Su, who is also a girl from the Northeast.
Although he is 6 years younger than Kong Linghui, Ma Su's lively and lovely personality and good looks still make Kong fall in love at first sight. So, after confirming that the other party also had a good impression of him, 27-year-old Kong Linghui plucked up the courage and launched a passionate pursuit of Ma Su.
Faced with the show of love of the "national idol", Ma Su, who had just turned 21, was a little shy at first, but was soon moved by Kong Linghui's sincerity and stability. Coupled with the fact that he has admired this "Prince of Ping Pong" since he was a child, Ma Su still failed to resist the call of the god of love after all.
In this way, the two quickly confirmed their relationship, and Ma Su soon moved into Kong Linghui's home in the north, and the two began to live together.
In the next few years, under the care and drive of Kong Linghui, Ma Su's acting career gradually improved, and he was gradually promoted from a small supporting role to a heroine. With the identity of "Kong Linghui's girlfriend", although there are not many works, Ma Su has become a well-known actor.
Kong, on the other hand, continued to work hard in the national team and achieved one brilliant achievement after another. Both of them have successful careers and love each other affectionately, and the relatives and friends around them are hoping that the two of them can enter the palace of marriage as soon as possible.
However, to everyone's disappointment, after 11 years of long-distance love, Kong Ma and the two not only still did not talk about marriage, but finally this relationship ended in 2013 without a problem.
The moment Ma Su personally admitted the breakup, everyone drew a sad end to the love story of the golden boy and girl.
At the age of 31, Kong Linghui officially announced his retirement from the national team, ending his 19-year career. Although he is reluctant to leave his teammates who have been with him for many years, he knows that a good athlete also needs to be at the top of his game.
Soon after retiring, Kong Linghui quickly transformed into the head coach of the Chinese national women's table tennis team.
For Kong Linghui, who grew up at the table, this new job is no stranger. He has dedicated his 30 years of understanding and experience in table tennis skills and tactics to the young players in the team.
One of the most eye-catching is the rookie Liu Shiwen he brought out. Under the careful training of Coach Kong, Liu Shiwen quickly grew into the first female table tennis player, and led the Chinese team to win the Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup and other major events since the 2012 London Olympics.
It can be said that the second golden age of the Chinese national women's team during Kong Linghui's coaching period.
And when his disciples laughed in the medal pile, Kong Linghui would also feel sincerely relieved and proud. This is his new life after retiring, as a responsible and rigorous coach, he will pass on what he has learned in his life to his juniors and help them continue to win glory for the country.
In 2017, just when Kong Linghui was coaching the national women's team, a twist and turn came suddenly. A Hong Kong media disclosed that a casino in Singapore took 42-year-old Kong Linghui to court, saying that he owed a huge amount of 2.5 million yuan after losing money in gambling.
Although Kong Linghui quickly clarified that his friend was gambling and did not have anything to do with him, the Chinese Table Tennis Association immediately dismissed him as the head coach of the women's team. In an instant, Kong's coaching career hit a low point.
Since then, Kong Linghui has withdrawn from the public eye and has not reappeared in any sports activities. Rumor has it that he chose to live in seclusion on a small island in Southeast Asia.
This time, even Liu Guoliang, chairman of the Table Tennis Association, did not make him a phoenix again. Today, more than 8 years have passed since that gambling turmoil, Kong Linghui has not come out of the mountain again, and there is no trace of him in the national table tennis system.
Success in life can never get rid of failure, this is Kong Linghui's last portrayal. The "Prince of Ping Pong" who held the national flag in his arms in Sydney and had teary eyes in his eyes has been nearly half a hundred years since then, and fate is still joking with him and no longer favors him.
From the birth of a sports family in 1975 to the glorious retirement in 2006; From the 1995 World Table Tennis Championships for the first time, to the 2017 casino turmoil fell to the altar...... Looking back at Kong Linghui's life, I can't help but sigh that struggle and tribulation are often accompanied by him, and how poignant the fate of luck and bad luck makes people so bitter.
Kong Linghui was originally the lucky one favored by God. He grew up in the national team at the age of 12 and started his way to winning awards at the age of 16. As soon as he turned 20 years old, he reached the top of the men's singles at the World Table Tennis Championships; At the age of 25, he defeated his brother and won the Olympic gold medal in one fell swoop.
He should have had a smooth ride, but after the divorce and gambling scandal, there was no day to turn over.
People say that success is also Xiao He, and defeat is also Xiao He. Kong Linghui's vengeful defeat is just like his invincibility back then. Now that he is middle-aged, he has already gained fame and fortune, and he could have enjoyed his family in peace.
But because of emotional setbacks and career frustrations, he did nothing in the second half of his life.
Success in life cannot be separated from failure, and Kong Linghui's experience is a footnote. This table tennis legend has had ups and downs in his life, and his fate is capricious. Leaving aside all the honors and regrets, his life journey still continues, no matter how difficult and tortuous the road is.