On January 17, Beijing time, all the members of the national table tennis team gathered at the Lingshui National Table Tennis Training Base in Sanya, so it also ushered in the start day of preparing for the World Table Tennis Championships in Busan.
At the same time, there is more exciting news coming, that is, the head coach of the Guangdong team, Zhang Chao, the famous chipper Hou Yingchao, the "golden left hand" Xu Xin and the old partner Liu Shiwen have all been urgently called up to report to Lingshui. At the same time, some retired veterans such as Fang Bo, Yan An, and Zhou Yu were also called, and the arrival of these personnel will strengthen the coaching team in part and serve as the main sparring partner. This is really a battle for which we are not prepared!
This call-up may be a continuation of the tradition of national table tennis, that is, local famous coaches and retired veterans will be summoned before important competitions. I remember that when preparing for the Tokyo Olympics, the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships and the Mixed Team World Cup, the national table tennis team had summoned the "God Killer" Chen Xi, the "Desperate Sanyang" Liu Guozheng, Hou Yingchao, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen, etc., and this time Zhang Chao's recruitment was the first time.
Zhang Chao, the head coach of the Guangdong table tennis men's team and the head coach of Shantou Mingrun Club, is Lin Gaoyuan's godfather. In 1985, 15-year-old Zhang Chao was selected for the national team and emerged together with the "Six Little Dragons" at that time. In 2014, he officially retired from the national team and became a player and coach of the Guangdong team.
Zhang Chao has excellent physical fitness, strong explosiveness, and amazing hitting power. When he served as an off-court coach in domestic competitions, his unique conducting style and passionate conducting art inspired the fighting spirit and fighting spirit of the players. In this call-up, one of Zhang Chao's important tasks is to assist Lin Gaoyuan in improving his combat capability and helping him achieve a comprehensive transformation.
Lin Gaoyuan has performed well in the 2023 season and is one of the main forces after foreign players. Analysts believe that Zhang Chao's call-up is not only to prepare for the Busan World Table Tennis Championships, but also for the Paris Olympics.
Hou Yingchao, born in 1980, played for the national team and is known for his excellent backhand raw rubber chipping skills. Since retiring from the national team in 2014, he has been actively involved in the provincial professional league and the Japanese T-League.
In 2019, at the age of 39, Hou Yingchao defeated the main players of the national team in the national championship and won the national singles championship again after 19 years. At present, he is also a guest commentator in the live table tennis program of a certain platform, and has been praised by fans for his excellent business level and humorous commentary style.
The 43-year-old Hou Yingchao was called up again, perhaps on the one hand, to supplement the shortcomings of the national team coaching team in chipping with his unique chipping style and to teach the players chipping experience and experience, and on the other hand, as a chipping player, he will serve as a sparring partner for the main players or participate in a series of simulation matches. After all, in the World Championships, players with various special playing styles emerge in an endless stream, and if the main players of national table tennis do not pass the test in chipping, it will be difficult to be regarded as an excellent all-round player.
Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen, the famous "Xin Wen" simulcast group, were the main players of the national team, and won the singles and mixed doubles world championships and Olympic champions many times during the national team. After the Tokyo Olympics, although they withdrew from the national team, they are still the core players of the Shanghai team and the Guangdong team, and they are still fighting hard in the National Championships and the Table Tennis Super League.
The "Xin Wen" simulcast group has returned at the same time, and it has been clearly stated that it will assist Xiao Zhan, the head of the mixed doubles coaching staff, to build two mixed doubles pairs of Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha and Lin Shidong/Kuo Man, to support the mixed doubles gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
Before the Tokyo Olympics, "Xin Wen" had been highly anticipated as the world No. 1 player, and although she was the only mixed doubles pair to be selected for the Tokyo squad, she still lost the gold medal in the final, leaving fans with a sense of regret.
World No.1 Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha are expected to represent their national team in the mixed doubles competition, while the biggest competitors will be several pairs from Japan, Taiwan and Europe. Now the return of the "Xin Wen" simulcast will provide experience and lessons for Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha to work together with mixed doubles team leader Xiao Zhan to reclaim the mixed doubles gold medal lost in Tokyo at the Paris Olympics.