The 2024 Asian Table Tennis Championships kicked off with fierce competition. The women's team competition performed well in the first match, with Liu Shiwen and Zhu Yuling both winning easily with perfect results of 3-0. Liu Shiwen showed her overwhelming strength against South Korea's Liang Ha Eun, with the scores of 11-5, 11-6 and 11-2 in three games, showing her absolute dominance on the court. Meanwhile, Zhu needed just 15 minutes to sweep past her opponent Du Kaiqin, 11-6, 11-1, 11-4, and her next round opponent is Japan's Miu Hirano, in what was seen as a fight for revenge. Zhu Yuling said that she was very satisfied with the draw, and joked that although Miu Hirano is young, she is also full of energy.
However, the men's singles match was unexpectedly dramatic. After experiencing the turmoil of retirement, Fan Zhendong suffered a heavy setback in his first game on the international stage. Fan fell behind 11-13, 7-11 in the first game against Chinese Taipei's Chen Chien-an, and although he then fought back to make the match 11-6, 11-9, Chen Chien-an won 11-8 to deal a huge blow to Fan Zhendong. In this game, Fan Zhendong's defeat was not only a personal setback, but also symbolized the first defeat of the Chinese table tennis team in the Asian Cup.
Another major topic in the Asian Cup is the lack of the influence of the soul of Liu Guoliang. In the past, Liu Guoliang was able to stabilize the morale of the military and mobilize morale at critical moments, such as guiding Zhang Jike and Ma Long to achieve the feat of reversal at the Olympic Games. But now, he is no longer in the coach's seat, and the national table tennis needs to adapt to this new situation without core leadership. The challenges faced by Fan Zhendong and his companions are not only from the challenges of their opponents, but also from their own mentality and technical adjustments. Against this backdrop, each member of the team must learn to grow independently in order to face more severe tests that follow.