A player like Ma Long is a needle for national table tennis, and a nightmare for players from foreign associations.
Since the beginning of last year's play, there has been a voice saying that Ma Long can't do it anymore, he can't play anymore, so it's better to give way to the young players? They are all 36 years old, they are still playing, and with him pressing, stars like Liang Jingkun and Lin Gaoyuan who are in their playing years have no chance.
In fact, Ma Long really can't play? Look at Ma Long's results in 2023, even if he only won one Asian Championships championship in the whole year, the Dragon team won the second and third place in the Singapore Grand Slam and the World Table Tennis Championships, the Hangzhou Asian Games is also the team champion, and the Lanzhou Challenge and Frankfurt Championship are all runners-up.
In the table tennis league at the end of the year, Ma Long led the team cleanly, led a group of young players, and won the championship all the way. It can be said that Ma Long will still maintain the world's top level in 2023, and the singles world ranking is still third. Under the escort of Ma Long, the results of the national table tennis gradually stabilized, especially the young player Wang Chuqin, whose singles results also improved by leaps and bounds and came to the second place in the world under the condition that the mixed doubles became more and more dominant.
It is precisely because of Ma Long's presence that the national table tennis has not been crushed by players from foreign associations. Is Ma Long still lacking any honors? Double-lap Grand Slam champion, this kind of achievement in the world men's table tennis arena is unprecedented and difficult to come by.
Malone doesn't need any title to prove himself anymore, now he's just enjoying the game and playing as far as he can. Liu Guoliang once said that a player of Ma Long's level, if you want him to retire, you must beat him on the field.
But now, to put it mildly, except for Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin, the players behind Ma Long, which one has stronger ability than Ma Long, and the opportunities are equal, but who is to blame if you can't play?
In this year-end finals, Ma Long played against South Korea's first brother Zhang Yuzhen, and the Dragon team won 3-0, and he was the only one who did not lose points among all the players in the national table tennis. Ma Long can also be regarded as using Zhang Yuzhen to "sacrifice the flag", which not only gave the national table tennis a shot in the arm, let the national table tennis win the final championship to remove obstacles, but also released to the outside world, the 36-year-old Ma Long can still play such a signal.
Although he won the opponent 3-0, Ma Long is not very satisfied with himself, he feels that he still has some baggage in his thoughts, because his current competitive ability is indeed a certain gap with his peak self. In the next game against Lin Gaoyuan, Ma Long came up with a "new move", that is, to calm down, unload the burden, and do his best, if he can win one game, it will be a game.
For Lin Gaoyuan, this is a good opportunity, although Lin Gaoyuan is ranked fifth in national table tennis, he is also the second oldest. But from Liu Guoliang to Wang Hao, Lin Gaoyuan has not given up, and it can be seen from the arrangements of several events at the beginning of the year that Lin Gaoyuan and Wang Chuqin are full of diligence. If Lin Gaoyuan can seize these opportunities, it is not impossible if he wants to turn the tables against the wind and make the final list of the Olympic Games.
But the most important thing in front of me is whether or not you can beat Ma Long, this is a hurdle, any player in national table tennis, including Fan Zhendong, who sees Ma Long, is stunned, even if the current Ma Long is sixty or seventy percent of his strength at his peak.
Ma Long is like the patron saint of national table tennis, and it is also a testing instrument, Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin have been tested by Ma Long before, and now it is Lin Gaoyuan's turn.
The question is, Lin Gaoyuan, can he pass this hurdle?