Every collision of table tennis balls is like a melody struck by musical notes, light and pleasant.
Liu Guozheng
When it comes to the national ball "table tennis", I think of the "three Lius": Liu Guoliang, Liu Guodong, and Liu Guozheng.
When I saw the name, I always thought it was a family, but in fact, Liu Guodong was indeed Liu Guoliang's eldest brother, but Liu Guozheng had no blood relationship with the two, and the similarity of the names was just a coincidence.
As an "outlier" in the "Three Lius", Liu Guozheng is a hero who makes the Korean sports world "frightened" and became famous in Osaka.
Since then, there has been a saying on the sports field: If you marry, you will marry Liu Guozheng.
But such a hero, at the lowest point in his life, can't change the fate of being abandoned.
Will he be able to get up and find a chance to make a comeback?
Looking at the first half of Liu Guozheng's life, he was always sad and crying for his tortuous life, and he was ecstatic for him to finally hold the beauty, so he can only say: Liu Guozheng, he deserves the best.
01
The germination of the dream of ping-pong
Liu Guozheng was born in 1980 in an ordinary family in Wuhan, Hubei, and his parents were always busy making a living.
Since he was a child, he was fostered by his father in a stadium near his home, and his parents could only pick him up after work.
Staying in the stadium, he has nothing to do, he can only watch the adults play table tennis to pass the time, sometimes he also wants to go up to experience it, when his fingers just touch the racket, he is yelled at by the owner, for fear that his troublemaking will affect the business.
Liu Guozheng always quietly watched the moves of the adults, he had no real thing, and he gestured with his wrist.
One day, an uncle saw the young and cute Liu Guozheng, staying there alone, his eyes kept staring at the table tennis racket in his hand, so he kindly invited Liu Guozheng to have a discussion together.
Liu Guozheng stepped forward happily, when he picked up the racket, used the strength of his whole body when serving, and was disorganized when receiving the ball, and soon he was defeated, tired and panting.
But this uncle looked at the little Liu Guozheng, although he could fall to the ground when the tired wind blew, he still stood firm, and admired his perseverance very much.
After that, as long as there was time, this uncle came to teach Liu Guozheng to play, Liu Guozheng during this period, he also experienced the warmth given by strangers, and also fell in love with playing table tennis in the company of adults.
When his father came to pick up Liu Guozheng from work, he saw Liu Guozheng who was full of energy on the court, and saw that he was full of confidence and demeanor, and a thought flashed in his mind:
Why don't you send him to a professional place to play table tennis?
When he stepped forward to pick up his son, he asked six-year-old Liu Guozheng: "Is it okay to go to a sports school to play ball?"
At this time, it was a surprise for Liu Guozheng, and then he cheered, thinking that he couldn't see this uncle often, he was still a little depressed.
Uncle comforted him: "The opportunity is not easy to come by, you must cherish it, and I believe that you can shine on the field in the future and represent the country." ”
It was the encouragement of this strange uncle that gave him a creed in life: to go on the field and fight for his country.
Time went by, and later he did succeed in standing on the court, and the event was broadcast live on TV, and his name became popular all over the country, but he never found this uncle again.
In the world of table tennis, there is no absolute advantage, only continuous challenge and transcendence, so that people can feel the true meaning of sports, even if they are older, he can also win glory for the country.
02
The brilliance of life and career
Entering the sports school, Liu Guozheng was poured cold water by reality, because sports generally have to start formal training at the age of 4 or 5, he is already the older in this batch of students, and his family conditions are also average, and he cannot get the help of well-known coaches like other students with good conditions.
Practicing in a more formal arena, he could only grasp the limited resources of the school and stand out from this group of students.
Since then, he has worked harder than others, and while others are nestled in bed to enjoy the warmth of the bed, he is already sweating in the school's gym, wearing a thin jersey.
When others finished training and rested, he was still pondering the skills and methods taught by the coach, and sometimes he begged the coach to "open a small stove" in private and teach some skills that suited him.
In 1991, he was also taken by the coach to Shantou Sports School, which started his professional career in table tennis.
In 1994, he was selected for the national second team after layers of selection.
After a year of "fighting", he was admitted to the national team again.
At this time, he was in the situation of "a wolf in front and a tiger in the back".
At that time, the main force was headed by Kong Linghui, Liu Guoliang, etc., and the young outstanding players were represented by Ma Lin and Wang Liqin.
At this time, he was just a mediocre "alternate".
But Liu Guozheng did not lose heart, he always met the competition in the best condition, at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Liu Guozheng won the men's singles championship, and finally entered the top eight in the final.
Head coach Cai Zhenhua took Liu Guozheng as the first echelon to participate in various competitions.
Liu Guozheng also attaches great importance to this hard-won opportunity, and hopes to win one medal after another for the country like Liu Guoliang.
In order to go smoothly in the game, Coach Cai Zhenhua wanted to replace Liu Guozheng with other players, and also hoped that he could take time to rest and recuperate.
But Liu Guozheng cried, he and Coach Cai Zhenhua said: "The illness will not affect the game, I will achieve good results." ”
Even during the high fever, he was weak, but he carried it hard, and his body was loaded with high-intensity training.
He was not substituted as he wished, and until the start of the game, the coach did not find a suitable "replacement".
He also had a fever before the game, and finally went to the field, won the championship, and once again refreshed the coach's impression of him, and began to train him with all his might.
The glory of his life is that in the semifinals of the men's team of the 46th World Table Tennis Championships in 2001, Liu Guozheng turned the tide, saved the match points in a row, and sent the Chinese team to the finals.
At that time, it was a difficult period for small balls to big balls, and he scored 2-0 on the field and easily swept Wu Shangyin.
But there were four rounds in a game, and Kong Linghui didn't know if he was in a bad mood or slacking off during training, and he fell a big heel.
In both rounds, they lost 0-2 to the South Korean player.
Kim Taek-so
At this time, the tense atmosphere in the arena ushered in the highest point, and Coach Cai Zhenhua had the mentality of breaking the kettle, if he lost the game, he would pat his buttocks, pack up his things and leave.
In the last round, Liu Guozheng seemed to carry a thousand pounds of heavy burden on the court, and finally used his outstanding first three board skills to save 7 match points in a row, pulling the Chinese team back from the brink of death, reaching the World Table Tennis Finals and winning the championship.
"Turn the tide and help the building to fall"
At this time, team member Kong Linghui was very excited, with tears in his eyes, he knelt down on one knee, and his mouth was still murmuring: Thank you for not making me a sinner through the ages.
He was also awarded the honorary title of "Anti-Korean Hero" in the game.
But the hero's career was still too short in the end, but the mission he was carrying became heavier and heavier, so heavy that he couldn't bear the high-intensity training, couldn't return to the table tennis arena, and lost his girlfriend.
Liu Guozheng and Ma Lin
03
At the low point, his girlfriend left
In the 2004 Toyota Cup, Liu Guozheng performed well. played the Hong Kong, China team, scored two points in a row, and played South Korea and beat Zhu Shihe 3-0 as the No. 2 singles.
At that time, it was rumored on the court: Liu Guozheng will be chosen if you get married.
So his feelings aroused the interest of reporters, so they began to call him and asked: "Do you have a girlfriend?"
In the face of the reporter's question about his girlfriend, Liu Guozheng did not evade it at all, and even reported Zhao Shuqi's name quickly, generously sharing the experience of falling in love, and for fear that the reporter would not know his girlfriend's name, Liu Guozheng also used a pen and paper to write the two words "Shuqi" clearly and clearly, and his love was overflowing.
Liu Guozheng and He Jie
He met Zhao Shuqi in 2002, when Liu Guozheng was already a well-known table tennis player in the country, and he was invited to appear at a friend's family party.
As soon as he appeared, he attracted the adoring eyes of the girls at the party, and Zhao Shuqi was also one of them.
Although Zhao Shuqi is not a regular athlete, she has also watched Liu Guozheng's classic games, and she also knows the magnificent deeds of this "anti-Korean hero".
Liu Guo stays on the court all year round, and he is also jerky and ignorant about love, and in the face of a young girl's pursuit, he soon couldn't resist, and the two immediately walked into a romantic and sweet love.
How can adorable love experience the ravages of wind and rain.
On December 14, 2005, an accidental injury during training pushed Liu Guozheng into the operating room, but the operation was unsuccessful, and the day of Liu Guozheng's comeback became far away.
Soon after, he underwent a second operation, but after the operation, Liu Guozheng could no longer adapt to the high-intensity training, and it was basically impossible for him to return to table tennis.
This was heartbreaking news for Liu Guozheng, when he became short-tempered and did not have much patience with his girlfriend.
But at that time, Zhao Shuqi was just a 21-year-old girl, immersed in the romance of love, she couldn't understand the pain of Liu Guozheng not being able to return to the arena, she always chattered and complained: Liu Guozheng doesn't love her anymore.
Once Liu Guozheng was watching the game, thinking about when, if he could train and recover successfully, he could return to the field again, and he didn't hear Zhao Shuqi's words.
This attracted strong dissatisfaction from his girlfriend, and in the end, no matter how he coaxed, his girlfriend still left him.
At first, he reflected: did he do something wrong, but later looked at his physical condition, and realized that his girlfriend couldn't accept mediocrity, and in the end he didn't dare to enter love casually.
Fortunately, he was still favored by God, and although he left the field, he still exported batch after batch of outstanding table tennis players to the country.
has worked hard again and again for the ideal career, and even delayed life events.
04
After recovery, he married and had children
Due to physical reasons, Liu Guozheng still announced his retirement in 2008, but he was still unwilling to leave the field, he thought that it would be good to even look at his beloved table tennis from afar.
He finally participated in the election of the head coach of the national second team, and he also passed the test layer by layer, continued to shine in the field of table tennis, and was able to continue to contribute to the national table tennis cause.
At this time, his friend Xiao Zhan began to be anxious about his life events.
At that time, seeing that Liu Guo was busy with competitions and training students, his private life could not be simpler, so he began to urge him to start a family as soon as possible and complete major events in life, instead of focusing on table tennis.
Liu Guozheng was still apprehensive at this time because of the last relationship, and he didn't dare to agree, plus his time was all spent on training players, he really didn't think about falling in love, but he couldn't stand the soft grinding and hard bubbles of his friends, so under the mediation of his friend Xiao Zhan and his wife Jia Beibei, he went to the appointment to meet the female table tennis player Lu Lu.
Although Lu Lu is not as famous as him, he is also young, only 19 years old has won the championship of the major World Games, and the table tennis demon "Zhang Yining" was still a member of the team at the same time, and the two fought side by side, winning one medal after another.
But the first time the two met, there was an unpleasant situation, at that time, Lu Lu was busy with heavy training all year round, and he didn't know much about national-level athletes.
thought that Liu Guo was a handsome guy of more than 1.8 meters: fair-skinned, sunny and handsome.
But when they met, they found that it was too far from their imagination, not only was their height not enough, but their skin was also dark.
Liu Guozheng is not dissatisfied with Lu Lu, but thinks that the difference is too big, Lu Lu is only 19 years old at this time, and a baby face looks more childish, and he really can't do it!
The two broke up unhappily when they met for the first time, and they also told the introducer Xiao Zhan and his wife that it was inappropriate. But in order to match the two, Xiao Zhan and his wife tried their best to use Liu Guozheng's identity as coach to let Liu Guozheng help Lu Lu train, and the two were also in the training back and forth, and their relationship was sublimated.
Lu Lu looked at Liu Guozheng, who was relegated to the second line in front of her, the love for table tennis in her eyes, coupled with her superb technical skills, made Liu Guozheng radiate brilliance, and she couldn't help but be emotional; Liu Guozheng also looked at Lu Lu's perseverance, and admired this petite girl even more, and her pity slowly sprouted.
The two soon expressed their love for each other, and under the urging of Liu Guozheng's parents, they entered the palace of marriage in 2010.
Liu Guozheng and Lu Lu's wedding photos
After marriage, Lu Lu gave birth to two daughters one after another.
In order to keep up with her husband's footsteps, Lu Lu not only has to take care of the family, she also becomes the coach of the second team of the women's team.
Under Lu Lu's careful care, Liu Guozheng shined in his table tennis career, but he also neglected his responsibilities as a son and father.
Until the 2019 Austrian Open Table Tennis Championships, his player Wang Chuqin lost control of his emotions during the game and deliberately threw away his racket.
Liu Guozheng (right) and Wang Chuqin
At this time, Liu Guozheng really rested.
Coincidentally, during the "mask" period, Liu Guozheng visited his seriously ill mother, who was isolated at home alone, unable to join the national table tennis team, and the team members trained in an orderly manner under his remote macro control.
At this time, he understood that his parents and family needed him more at this time, and a large number of talents had emerged in the country, and he was willing to leave the field.
In 2022, Liu Guozheng resigned as the coach of the national team and left his favorite table tennis front-line.
Winning glory for the country is still the seed in the heart of every athlete.
Although he left the arena, he still wanted to "educate people" for the country, so he found a relatively easy career, a coach at Tsinghua University.
I still do the work of nurturing talents for the country, but I have more time to take care of my family, take care of my elderly parents, and spend time with my lovely daughters.
He finally put down his racket and began to have time to hold a spatula and cook delicious meals for his family, and the family got together happily.
finale
Now Liu Guozheng has become a physical education teacher at Tsinghua University, and he has been dedicating the best time of his life to the table tennis career he loves.
If his achievements are the stepping stones to impress the fans, then his noble character and indifference to fame and fortune make him shine on the table tennis track.