"Ping Pong Queen" Deng Yaping
"Double Circle Grand Slam" Zhang Yining
"World Championships three-time champion" Wang Nan
"The first person in the history of table tennis" Ma Long
......
In the history of the Chinese table tennis team, there have been many outstanding athletes, but behind these outstanding athletes, there are also many athletes who had the opportunity to reach the top or had absolute strength, but ultimately failed to achieve their dreams.
"Happiness is always alike, and unfortunate people have their own misfortunes"
Today, let's take stock of the four most "sad" players in the history of the Chinese table tennis team:
One: Wang Hao
Wang Hao, born in 1983, is 41 years old this year.
Wang Hao is the head coach of the Chinese table tennis men's team, from this point of view, Wang Hao is definitely not sad, in fact, Wang Hao's career achievements have surpassed 90% of the national table tennis athletes.
If he did not perform well as an athlete, how could he possibly sit in the position of head coach of the men's team after retiring.
But in the eyes of most fans, even some coaches and Wang Hao himself, his career is undoubtedly full of pathos, which stems from his title of "second millennium".
Wang Hao was selected into the national first team in 1999, when he was a talent reserved by the national table tennis coaching staff for the Beijing Olympic Games, but a few years after entering the national team, Wang Hao emerged and became a young player in the men's team second only to several main players.
Therefore, at the Athens Olympics, the coaching staff decided to let Wang Hao feel the atmosphere of the Olympic Games, but who knew that Ma Lin, who was alone in the upper half of the district, lost unexpectedly.
In the second half of the region, Wang Hao and Wang Liqin met in the semifinals, because Liu Chengmin entered the final first, so Wang Hao played bravely in the semifinals to defeat Wang Liqin, who had never been defeated before, just because he had a higher winning rate against Liu Chengmin.
In the men's singles final, he met the crazy Liu Chengmin, and Wang Hao, who was shouldering the heavy responsibility, had no way to deal with it, and finally lost this much-anticipated game.
In the next year or two, Wang Hao entered the finals in many competitions, but ultimately lost, so he began to have the title of "second millennium".
At the Beijing Olympics, 25-year-old Wang Hao was at his peak, and he was also the number one main force of Chinese men's table tennis at that time, but he met his fellow brother Ma Lin in the men's singles final.
After the Beijing Olympics, Wang Liqin and Ma Lin gradually retreated to the second line, and Ma Long and other young players have not yet grown up, and Wang Hao was the absolute No. 1 main force in the team during that time.
Especially since 2011, Wang Hao's skills have reached their peak, and he has been able to reach the finals of almost all world competitions in those years, but he met the unreasonable Zhang Jike.
In particular, the 2012 London Olympics, when Wang Hao was 29 years old, it can be said that this is the last time he will participate in the Olympics in his career, and it is also his last chance to achieve a Grand Slam, but who knows that he will once again become Zhang Jike's stepping stone.
At that time, everyone was touting Zhang Jike's 445-day achievement of the Grand Slam, but they didn't know that Zhang Jike won the Grand Slam in these three World Series finals and defeated Wang Hao.
Since then, Wang Hao seems to have confirmed the title of "second millennium", in fact, Wang Hao has won almost all the championships he can in his entire career, except for the Olympic men's singles championship.
However, in everyone's eyes, Wang Hao is not an Olympic champion, even if he has won the Olympic men's team championship twice.
From entering the men's singles finals in three consecutive Olympic Games, you can understand how strong Wang Hao was in those years, but unfortunately he failed to win an Olympic men's singles championship in his career.
From this point of view, Wang Hao is undoubtedly sad, if you borrow the words of the late NBA Lakers star Kobe Bryant: "The second place is the biggest loser", then Wang Hao is undoubtedly the saddest player in national table tennis.
Two: Guo Yue
Guo Yue, who was born in 1988, is 36 years old.
Some old fans may be familiar with Guo Yue, but in the minds of some young fans, there may be no such person, after all, Wang Nan and Zhang Yining will occasionally appear in today's national table tennis, but Guo Yue seems to have disappeared out of thin air, not only did he not show up, but even the players had a tacit understanding not to mention her.
It's not that Guo Yue did anything angry or betrayed the national table tennis, it's just that she can't fit into the environment of the national table tennis, and her character is not liked by the coach of the national table tennis.
It is also because of this character that Guo Yue ruined his great future.
As mentioned earlier, Wang Hao entered the national team in 1999, and Guo Yue, who was 5 years younger than him, also entered the national team this year.
Wang Hao participated in the Athens Olympics, and the 16-year-old Guo Yue also participated in the Athens Olympics, although she failed to become one of the protagonists like Wang Hao, but she also partnered with Niu Jianfeng to win the bronze medal in women's doubles.
In 2007, when Guo Yue was 19 years old, she not only partnered with Wang Liqin to win the mixed doubles championship at the World Table Tennis Championships in Zagreb, but also defeated Zhang Yining and Li Xiaoxia in the women's singles competition and won the first women's singles championship at the World Championships in her career.
In 2008, 20-year-old Guo Yue participated in the Beijing Olympics with Wang Nan and Zhang Yining, and she was also the second seed in the games, second only to Zhang Yining.
However, at a young age, she lost to the experienced Wang Nan in the semi-finals and only won the bronze medal in the women's singles, but in the women's team finals, she stood on the top podium with Zhang Yining and Wang Nan.
Wang Nan retired after the Beijing Olympics, and Zhang Yining also announced his retirement after participating in the 2009 World Table Tennis Championships and the National Games.
It can be said that the reason why these two female table tennis sisters retired so simply is also related to Guo Yue's growth, after all, in their opinion, with Guo Yue in them, they can retire with peace of mind.
But who knows, Guo Yue, who was supposed to become the first sister of the women's team, was not liked by Shi Zhihao, the head coach of the women's team at the time, not only criticized Guo Yue in public many times, but even in the 2010 Moscow World Table Tennis Championships Women's Team Finals, he also pressed Guo Yue on the bench and did not allow him to play.
In the end, the Chinese women's table tennis team lost the women's team championship of the World Table Tennis Championships in Moscow.
After that, although Guo Yue has been in the main layer of national table tennis, she has not been reused, even in the London Olympics, she only won a place for the third person in the group, you must know that she is only 24 years old this year, and she is at her peak.
After the London Olympics, Shi Zhihao paid for his arrogance, and Kong Linghui took office, but Guo Yue was already disheartened.
So after two years of stumbling, Guo Yue, who was only 26 years old in 2014, announced that he would leave the national team where he had struggled for 15 years.
Although Guo Yue is not a Grand Slam in the entire Chinese women's table tennis, and her results are not bad, she deserves better according to her talent, and even if there are no accidents, her career will be more brilliant than Wang Nan and Zhang Yining.
In addition to the dislike of Shi Zhihao and the coaching staff, Guo Yue's own personality does have big problems.
As the saying goes, "character determines fate", maybe when Guo Yue left the national team for the first time, her fate had already been decided!
Three: Liu Shiwen
Liu Shiwen, who was born in 1991, is 33 years old this year.
As mentioned earlier, Guo Yue was only 11 years old when he entered the national team, and Liu Shiwen was only 13 years old when she entered the national team in 2004.
is not only a talented girl, but also one of the protagonists in the 2010 Moscow World Table Tennis Championships where Guo Yue was abandoned, and this game also changed her fate.
As mentioned earlier, the head coach of the women's team at the time didn't like Guo Yue, so in the women's team final of the Moscow World Table Tennis Championships, Liu Shiwen, who was only 19 years old, was entrusted with an important task by Shi Zhihao as a single.
The reason why Shi Zhihao values Liu Shiwen so much is probably because Liu Shiwen won the Women's Singles World Cup in 2009 at the age of 18.
In Shi Zhihao's opinion, Guo Yue is so disobedient, so he will choose an obedient leader of the women's team.
The heavens will descend on the people, and they must first suffer their minds and work their bodies......
The ancients also knew that if you want one to take on greater responsibility, you should first cultivate her ability to resist pressure, and then exercise her physical fitness.
I don't know if Shi Zhihao thinks that 19-year-old Liu Shiwen has this ability, or thinks that the Chinese women's table tennis players are "sure to win every battle".
In the end, 19-year-old Liu Shiwen failed to resist the pressure, losing two points by herself, losing the World Championships women's team championship and losing her own future.
At the London Olympics, Liu Shiwen was not considered by the coaching staff at all, and this is the reason why Moscow planted it.
In the women's singles final of the 2015 Suzhou World Table Tennis Championships, Liu Shiwen chased two games in a row after falling behind Ding Ning with a big score of 1-3, and took a 0-2 lead at the beginning of the deciding game.
But at this time, Ding Ning's foot was broken, and the medical pause lasted for ten minutes, and after the game started again, Liu Shiwen not only had cold hands, but also cold hearts, and began to care about the physical condition of her opponent Ding Ning, and she didn't dare to play at a big angle, for fear that Ding Ning would be injured again.
It is no surprise that Liu Shiwen lost, and the reason planted this time was also fed back to the 2016 Rio Olympics, after all, the women's singles champion of the Suzhou World Table Tennis Championships will directly win the women's singles quota of the Rio Olympics.
As a result, Liu Shiwen, who was ranked No. 1 in the world at the time, could only participate as a team third person in the Rio Olympics.
At the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships in Budapest, when Liu Shiwen defeated Chen Meng in the women's singles final, countless fans cried silently in front of the TV, "Ten years of sharpening a sword", do you know how Liu Shiwen came over in the past ten years?
After winning the women's singles title at the World Table Tennis Championships in Budapest, the women's singles quota for the Tokyo Olympics is now secure, and a global disaster in 2020 forced the Tokyo Olympics to be postponed for a year.
As a result, the women's singles quota that was originally a certainty became a mixed doubles quota.
Not only that, but the mixed doubles championship that was bound to be won was finally handed over to the host Misei Ito and Mizutani Hayabusa, and Liu Shiwen burst into tears in Tokyo after the match.
In Liu Shiwen's career, she has won a total of 5 women's singles World Cup championships, won all four World Table Tennis Championships, and is the third athlete in the total number of world champions in the history of Chinese women's table tennis, second only to Wang Nan and Ding Ning.
But it is such an athlete who has not been able to get the singles quota for the Olympic Games, and I have to say that it is really a pity and a tragedy.
Fourth: Zhu Yuling
Zhu Yuling, who was born in 1995, is 29 years old this year.
In the entire history of the Chinese table tennis women's team, Zhu Yuling's results are not ranked first, but she originally had a great chance to become a player side by side with several senior sisters in the top rankings.
Up to now, there have been five Grand Slams in the history of Chinese women's table tennis, they are Deng Yaping, Wang Nan, Zhang Yining, Li Xiaoxia, and Ding Ning.
Among them, Wang Nan, Zhang Yining, and Li Xiaoxia, their head coach Li Falcon when they achieved the Grand Slam, is now the head coach of Chinese table tennis.
The reason why I say this is because Zhu Yuling used to be a member of Li Falcon's group, not only that, but she was also a disciple personally selected by Li Falcon after Li Xiaoxia, and she was the number one member in Li Falcon's group at that time.
In the Chinese table tennis team, there is generally only one main player in each head coaching staff, that is, the number one in the coaching staff, and the players that the coach has cultivated with all his might.
The key is that Zhu Yuling at that time did not live up to Li Falcon's training, and in the early stage of her career, she always pressed Chen Meng of the same period under her.
During that period, although Chen Meng was also very good, he was always overshadowed by Zhu Yuling's light, which is why in the 2016 Rio Olympics, only 21-year-old Zhu Yuling became a P card player.
Generally speaking, the P card players of the last Olympic Games will be the main players that the national table tennis will focus on cultivating in the next Olympic cycle, and may even be the number one main player.
For example, Fan Zhendong, a member of the P card team of the men's team at the Rio Olympics, was the number one main player of the men's team admitted by the then chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association at the Tokyo Olympics.
So at that time, Zhu Yuling was the next successor of the women's team in the hearts of fans, and Fan Zhendong's status in the men's team was the same.
And Zhu Yuling also performed very fiercely in the Rio Olympics, winning the women's singles championship in the National Championships and the year-end finals, and the world ranking rose rapidly.
played against Ding Ning in the World Championships finals, and Liu Shiwen "fought" in the World Cup finals, although they both lost in the end, it also showed that Zhu Yuling's strength in the women's team at that time was second only to these two absolute main forces.
But who knew that in the women's singles final of the 2018 Swedish Open, facing the Japanese women's table tennis player Misei Ito, who had defeated Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen, the world No. 1 Zhu Yuling lost 0-4 without resistance.
After this game, Zhu Yuling was scolded on the hot search, "overwhelmed", "can't help Adou" and so on.
At that time, everyone just hated iron and steel, and most fans still expected Zhu Yuling to take revenge on Misei Ito, but since then, Zhu Yuling's state has dropped again and again.
missed the singles competition in Budapest and the Tokyo Olympics, Zhu Yuling was like a meteor, quickly disappearing into the fiercely competitive national table tennis team.
It wasn't until after the Tokyo Olympics that Zhu Yuling posted a photo on social media, and everyone found out from the hospital's bracelet that Zhu Yuling was hospitalized in the "Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences", and according to people familiar with the matter, Zhu Yuling was suffering from "thyroid cancer".
Fortunately, this is a curable cancer, and unfortunately Zhu Yuling's career has come to an end.
Defeat is the norm in competitive sports, and victory is the minority, but it is also a little embarrassing to see athletes who originally hoped to stand at the top of their peaks announce their retirement for one reason or another.
If you have any different views and suggestions on this, please leave a message in the comment area to discuss!