As 2023 draws to a close, WTT has unveiled the new young players for 2023, recognising the fastest rising young talent of the past year. There are four table tennis players shortlisted, and none of them are national table tennis players. They are Zhang Benmeihe, Zhu Qianxi, Gao Chengrui, and Felix Lebrun. Three of these four players are under the age of 20, which is a testament to the growing efforts of these three associations to develop young players.
The current world table tennis world is in a great change unseen in ten years, but many fans can't feel this huge change now. Because many fans are still immersed in the aura of the five main forces of national table tennis, it is difficult to have a deep understanding of the impact of the younger players of the foreign association. In fact, the table tennis world is changing, and Zhang Benmeihe's impact on Sun Yingsha still hasn't attracted the attention of fans.
Zhang Benmeihe fought with Sun Yingsha twice, and dragged Sun Yingsha into the tiebreaker, and the doubles and mixed doubles matches have broken through Sun Yingsha. These are completely ignored by many fans, and they don't want to think about why Zhang Benmeihe was able to drag Sun Yingsha into the tiebreaker?
Whether it is the International Table Tennis Federation or our competitor Japanese table tennis, they have found that there has been no rise of new young players in national table tennis in the past two years. Although Kuaiman defeated Sun Yingsha in a row, her performance in foreign wars was not stable enough and did not reach the heights that Sun Yingsha reached in her teens.
Although there are no young players in national table tennis, the rise of foreign players in the international table tennis arena is getting faster and faster. In fact, this is the essence of competitive sports, this association does not train young players, then the association will still train young players. No one can stop a new generation from replacing the old, and this is the normal metabolism of competitive sports.
In particular, this year's young player Gao Chengrui dragged Wang Chuqin, who is ranked second in the world, into the deciding game. The threat of this player is not weaker than Zhang Benmeihe, Gao Chengrui is only 17 years old this year, and he has shown a strong ability to reverse pull in COSCO. And this player played against Wang Chuqin in a major competition like the Asian Games, and he did not fall behind in the process of the game.
It can be said that both the national table tennis men's team and the national table tennis women's team have encountered the impact of young players from foreign associations. The impact of the French Lebrun brothers on the national table tennis in the past two years is obvious, and this year in the doubles, they almost defeated the combination of Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin. Felix Lebrun, in particular, won the European Championship before he was 18 years old.
This is rare among European players in the past, in the past few years, European players have been relying on veterans such as Ocharov and Bol, but in the past two years, not only the rise of the Lebrun brothers, but also the rapid rise of Swedish players Moregaard and Carlberg. Now the young players in the whole world table tennis arena have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and the ITTF is very pleased.
For example, Egypt's Hannah Gouda is only 16 years old this year, and last year she made it difficult for Wang Yidi to compete. In addition to Miwa Zhangmoto, the strength of the male player Matsushima Teruku is also very strong, and he also defeated the national table tennis star Zhou Qihao this year. Therefore, the newly rising young players will improve faster and faster in 2024, but in 2023, the fans will be left with a deep impression, except for Zhang Benmei and Zhu Qianxi.
Zhu Qianxi became famous in the international arena this year, and a very important reason was that she fought Sun Yingsha for the first time, forcing Sun Yingsha to a tiebreaker. Zhu Qianxi and Wang Manyu fought twice, although they failed, they both lost in the decisive game. This is enough to shock the national table tennis fans, in addition to Zhu Qianxi's eye-catching opponents of the main force of the Warring States table tennis, the stability of the game needs to be strengthened.
Zhu Qianxi is currently inconsistent against chippers, but she is also on the verge of breaking through. Zhu Qianxi has become the number one competitor of national table tennis, and the current threat is far greater than Zhang Benmeihe. This player is becoming more and more threatening to Sun Yingsha, because this is a player who has a strong ability to play ball.
Although Zhang Benmeihe has risen quickly but his adaptability is relatively weak, Zhu Qianxi's tactics in the game are more changeable, not only only can only play with the ball, but also have a certain offensive ability in the first three boards. On the whole, this year, Zhu Qianxi and Zhang Benmei are the biggest threat to the main force of national table tennis, although Hina Hayada defeated Wang Yidi, but Hina Hayada did not break through Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu and Chen Meng.
And Hina Hayada has been famous for a long time, and she has long been the first sister of Japanese table tennis. Zhu Qianxi has just participated in international competitions, and she has created a lot of passivity for the main force of national table tennis, and it is indeed worthy of being shortlisted on the list. Zhu Qianxi left the impression on fans that he was a great threat to the main force of the Warring States Table Tennis, but sometimes he would inexplicably lose to some foreign players with special playing styles.
This shows that Zhu Qianxi is still adapting to different opponents on the international stage, and it is obvious that she has participated in too few international competitions. As a naturalized player of the South Korean team, Zhu Qianxi is currently unable to participate in major competitions such as the World Table Tennis Championships and the Olympic Games, and can only increase her competition experience by participating in WTT events. But as time goes on, her progress will get faster and faster.
On the whole, the most threatening is still the Japanese table tennis players. In addition to Miwa Zhangmoto, 15-year-old Japanese table tennis players such as Yuna Koshio and Mio Takamori have formed the second echelon, and their strength is generally stronger than that of national table tennis players of the same age, and the ability to resist pressure in the game is extremely strong.
Therefore, in the Olympic cycle of 2028, the table tennis world will undergo real huge changes, and the Warring States era that fans are looking forward to is believed to have slowly arrived, and it is not an immutable era.