In March 2024, Liu Guozheng is in the 44th year of his life. Looking back on his current year, he has made gratifying achievements in both career and family.
As a teacher in the Department of Physical Education at Tsinghua University, he has passed on his years of experience in coaching the national table tennis team to generations of young students, guiding them to strive for excellence in the table tennis world.
In terms of family, his wife Lu Lu is Liu Guozheng's most solid backing. This woman from a table tennis family joined the national team as a sparring partner when she was young, and was teammates with famous generals such as Ding Ning and Guo Yan.
Although she did not become a professional athlete, Lu Lu's love for table tennis and understanding of Liu Guozheng are unparalleled. Now, she took the initiative to give up her career, run the family wholeheartedly, and take care of her two lively and lovely daughters.
Watching his daughters laughing and playing at home, Liu Guozheng's face is always filled with a happy smile, and this happiness is the fruit of his years of struggle.
Recalling the classic battle at the 46th World Table Tennis Championships that year, Liu Guo deservedly won the reputation of "Anti-Korean Hero". On that occasion, he faced South Korea's number one champion Kim Taek-so in the deciding game with his tenacious will, and finally turned the tide in a desperate situation and fought back to win qualification for the national team.
This scene shocked the world and made the audience crazy, and it has also been regarded as an immortal classic battle in the table tennis world.
Liu Guozheng's arduous journey of starting a family
Today's Liu Guozheng can have a successful career and a happy family, but he has gone through a difficult road full of thorns.
Back in his youth, everything originated from a chance chance - Liu Guozheng showed his extraordinary talent for table tennis.
Father Liu Bangyun and mother Xue Lamei discovered their son's crazy love for table tennis since they were young. Whenever someone plays in the unit, Xiao Guozheng always happily follows and observes, staring at the spinning table tennis ball.
Once, his racket was even confiscated by his mother Xue Lamei, and Xiaoguo cried bitterly at the time, looking at the child's persistent love, the parents were very pleased.
Soon, Liu Bangyun began to secretly look for a suitable coach, hoping to discover his son's talent to the extreme. Eventually, he met Yu Zhiguo, a teacher from Wuhan Amateur Sports School.
At first, Yu Zhiguo didn't have much interest in the skinny boy. However, when he deliberately flipped the racket in his hand, Xiao Guozheng's eyes followed the movements of the racket, and this persistence moved Yu Zhiguo and decided to take him as an apprentice.
Since then, Liu Guozheng's table tennis career has kicked off. The parents gave selflessly and tirelessly supported their son. Every morning at 5 o'clock, when the wind is cold, the father will wake up his son to train; In the scorching summer, sweat has already soaked through his clothes, and his father is still dutifully accompanied.
Along the way, they worked hard and dedicated to their son, and finally when Liu Guozheng was a teenager, they saw his good results in national competitions.
Soon, the talented Liu Guozheng was favored by the national team and was selected into the top training ranks. After entering the national team, he faced new challenges and pressures, and the team was full of strength, and he was just an unknown newcomer.
After tenacious struggle, Liu Guozheng finally showed extraordinary strength, won the appreciation of his coach and teammates, and became the leader of the national team.
The pinnacle of a brilliant career
Among them, the most unforgettable is the classic battle of the 46th World Table Tennis Championships in 2001. In the semi-finals, the Chinese team encountered a strong resistance from the old rival South Korea.
At that time, the main faction was seriously injured, and Kong Linghui, Liu Guoliang and others were in a sluggish state, which once made the Chinese team passive.
At the critical moment of desperation, Liu Guozheng, who was only 21 years old, stepped forward and defeated South Korea's number one football king Kim Taek-so with a tenacious and unyielding will, turning the tide for the national team, fighting back and finally winning the right to qualify.
This scene shocked the world, and Liu Guozheng was named the "anti-Korean hero". The crowd on the sidelines went crazy, and the whole event became an immortal classic in the table tennis world.
Afterwards, Liu Guozheng choked up tears in an interview, praised his teammates and thanked the coaching staff for their careful guidance, showing the humble qualities of an athlete.
In the subsequent finals, the Chinese team relied on the strength of unity and cooperation to defeat the Belgian team with a 3:0 advantage, and finally won the men's team championship. In this whole process, Liu Guozheng is undoubtedly the mainstay, he preemptively killed a single city, and occupied an important point for the team's lead.
In addition to his impressive record in the team competition, Liu Guozheng is also invincible in singles and doubles. In 2004, he won the silver medal in the mixed doubles at the World Table Tennis Championships with his partner Bai Yang; In 2000, he won the men's singles championship in the finals alone, winning high praise from fans at home and abroad.
At that time, Liu Guozheng could be said to be a national player at his peak, and his amazing service spin, accurate ball path selection, and super psychological quality almost became a lingering nightmare in the hearts of opponents.
On the field, he incarnates as a ferocious lion, roaring to defend the honor of his country; Off the field, he is a humble and courteous young talent who loves life, and has been sought after by countless fans.
Love and breakup troubles
While making great achievements in his career, Liu Guozheng's love life has also gone through some twists and turns. At the end of the 90s of the last century, he fell in love with the popular Xiaohuadan Zhao Shuqi, and the two were enthusiastic and in love.
In the beginning, the love between the young couple was as hot as a flame. Zhao Shuqi is lively and cute, straightforward and straightforward, and Liu Guozheng is sunny and upright, resolute and resolute, the personalities of the two are somewhat different to some extent, but they are also attracted to and appreciate each other.
Countless media outlets are chasing the beautiful figure of their model couple.
However, the good times did not last long, and as time went by, the contradictions between the two gradually revealed. As a well-known actor, Zhao Shuqi's career is booming, but Liu Guozheng, as a professional athlete, is always busy training and competing, and the life trajectory of the two began to drift apart.
Zhao Shuqi hopes to have more quiet time with his lover, but most of Liu Guozheng's time and energy are occupied by table tennis, and he has no time to accompany him for the honor of the country and his career ideals.
On the other hand, the two also have some differences in personality and values, which will inevitably lead to some discord and disputes.
In this way, the two who looked at each other and smiled at the beginning slowly moved towards disagreement and opposition. Finally, after a violent argument in 2006, they decided to break up and embarked on a new journey in life.
Although the breakup is late today, the regret of this relationship has become an eternal nail in Liu Guozheng's heart.
After the breakup, Liu Guozheng devoted all his energy to the table tennis career, although he failed to play in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, but he was immediately entrusted with the important task of serving as the assistant coach of the national team, opening a new chapter of his life.
Regain happiness and meet your beloved Lu Lu
After leaving Zhao Shuqi, Liu Guozheng devoted all his energy to his career, and although he failed to appear at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he was soon entrusted with the important task of serving as an assistant coach of the national table tennis team.
In this position, he has unreservedly passed on his years of experience and experience to batch after batch of young athletes.
It was in the process of coaching that Liu Guozheng got acquainted with Lu Lu, a former national teammate. Unlike Liu Guozheng, Lu Lu has never achieved brilliant results in the professional arena, but she also has an incomparable love and dedication to table tennis.
Lu Lu was born in Baoding, Hebei Province, and was selected into the Beijing table tennis team since he was a child, and was teammates with Ding Ning, Guo Yan and other famous generals. At the age of 11, she was favored by the national team and was selected as a sparring partner.
Due to her small size, Lu Lu mainly imitated the playing style of North Korean player Kim Yunmei and became a powerful assistant to national players such as Wang Nan and Niu Jianfeng.
Although she didn't become a professional athlete in the end, Lu Lu's love for table tennis has never diminished. In 2003, she went to Beijing Sport University for further study, and it was there that Lu Lu and Liu Guozheng met and gradually developed a good impression.
The two hit it off at first sight, and they hated to see each other late. Lu Lu was born in a table tennis family, so she naturally best understands the mental journey of Liu Guozheng, a "court veteran"; Liu Guozheng was deeply attracted by Lu Lu's simple and kind character, in his eyes, this woman is not only virtuous and generous, but also has unique insights into table tennis.
In this way, a love story began. In the days of dating, Liu Guozheng learned about Lu Lu's persistent pursuit of family, and Lu Lu also knew this man's loyalty and love for his career.
So in the mutual understanding and tolerance, their relationship gradually got better.
In April 2010, the two ushered in the most important moment of their lives - entering the palace of marriage. Soon after getting married, Lu Lu went to the University of Wisconsin in Madison for a one-year academic exchange.
After returning, she took the initiative to give up her career and wholeheartedly supported her husband Liu Guozheng's hard work in the table tennis arena, and soon welcomed two lovely daughters.
Since then, the family's life has entered a new stage. As a husband who was born as a professional athlete, Liu Guozheng has dedicated most of his time to his career; And Lu Lu chose to devote herself to the family and carefully cared for the growth of her two daughters.
Despite the hardships of life, the relationship between the two has become more and more familiar and compatible, as if they have found the most perfect other half of each other's lives.