The 2024 ITTF World Cup is in full swing in Macau, China. The Chinese team's Sun Yingsha, Fan Zhendong, Chen Meng, Wang Manyu, Lin Gaoyuan, etc. all played triumphant songs, but the national table tennis women's singles star Kuo Man was frustrated and lost 33-36 to South Korean star Tian Zhixi in the women's singles group stage and was eliminated. Regarding the result of Kuaiman's exit, netizens launched a heated discussion. Some people believe that although Kuo Man did not participate in the women's singles competition at the Paris Olympics, she is the key training object of the national table tennis coaching staff in the Los Angeles Olympic cycle, and it is indeed disappointing that she was eliminated in the group stage of the World Cup.
Some netizens also said that Kuo Man has participated in the World Cup women's singles matches too few times, and may not have adjusted his condition, and losing is not necessarily a bad thing. There are also fans who ridiculed, "There is no successor! Sun Yingsha is afraid that she is going to play to Ma Long's age!" "This ITTF World Cup is the most important international table tennis competition before the Paris Olympics, and the Chinese team, the Japanese team, and the South Korean team have all sent all the main teams. In the Chinese team, the men's singles lineup consists of Fan Zhendong, Wang Chuqin, Ma Long, Liang Jingkun, Lin Gaoyuan and Lin Shidong, while Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Chen Meng, Wang Yidi, Chen Xingtong and Kuo Man competed in the women's singles event.
Compared with previous editions, this World Cup has made certain adjustments in the competition system. The competition is divided into two stages: in the first stage, the contestants are divided into 16 groups, one group for every 3 players, and the players of the same association are automatically avoided, and each game is played in 4 rounds. After a single round robin in the group, the first group will qualify for the second stage of the competition, and the second stage of the competition will continue to use the best-of-7 system. Undoubtedly, the changes to the format have greatly increased the chance of the tournament and the likelihood that the top seeds will be eliminated.
Since the Chinese women's table tennis team has adjusted the selection rules for the Paris Olympics accordingly, the competition for the women's singles event in this World Cup has attracted much attention. From the perspective of grouping, Sun Yingsha is in the first group, Wang Manyu, Wang Yidi and Chen Meng are in the second to fourth groups respectively, and Chen Xingtong is in the sixth group. Kuo Man is in Group 13, and the strongest opponent in the same group is South Korea's Tian Zhixi. In the group stage, Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, and Chen Meng all showed good form and successfully defeated their opponents.
Kuo Man defeated Hong Jianfang 4-0 in the first round of the group, and Tian Zhixi also defeated Hong Jianfang. In this way, Kuo Man and Tian Zhixi will directly compete for the right to qualify. Judging from the game, Kuaiman's form was very slow, losing the first two games 4-11 and 6-11 respectively, and although he won the next two games 12-10 and 11-4, Kuaiman still lost to Tian Zhixi with an overall score of 33-36 and missed the qualification. Netizens commented, "Let's go back to practice, this strength is not worthy of the Paris Olympics P card." "The reserve strength of the national table tennis women's team is worried!"
(Shopkeeper Luo)