Just today, the world's table tennis elites gathered together and launched a dazzling competition. Especially Ma Long of the Chinese team, the performance of this table tennis boss can be described as "easy". His opponent, France's Phoenix Lebrun, clearly failed to get his mentality right, while Malone showed a masterful composure.
The duel between Malone and Lebrun can be said to be a psychological war. Lebrun showed his speedy style of play as soon as he came up, trying to play slow with fast, which was a challenge to Malone in theory. However, for Malone, this is just a rehash of the same old tune. At the beginning of 11:7, and then 11:8, Ma Long won two cities in a row, and it seemed that everything was under control.
However, in the third game, Lebrun suddenly came back and made the score look less embarrassing. But with the show to come, Lebrun began his "show time" — biting the racket, slapping the head, roaring, all seemingly to disrupt Malone's rhythm. And what about Malone's reaction? Our Grand Slam champions, in the face of this childish spectacle, just stood quietly, as if they were watching a free theatrical performance.
For Lebrun's off-the-board moves, Malone was not only not affected, but won the fourth game more steadily, leading 3:1. The young Frenchman clearly still needs to be tempered, and he hasn't been able to reach the top level technically and mentally. Lebrun still tried to gain the upper hand with shock tactics in the fifth game, but Malone had already figured out his routine. In the end, in the sixth game, Malone just easily showed what it means to be a master again, bidding farewell to Lebrun with a total score of 4:2 and successfully advancing.
In this game, if Lebrun's performance was "the apes on both sides of the strait couldn't stop crying", then Malone was the fisherman who watched coldly, and he had already seen through the opponent's hole cards. Lebrun's mentality became a stumbling block for him at a critical moment, and Malone, with his experience and skill, once again proved his strength.
After the final whistle, it was not difficult to see that Lebrun's performance, although fierce, was not enough to shake Malone's champion's heart. Ma Long's performance not only made the opponent gnash his teeth, but also made the audience addicted. His seemingly casual attitude of "watching the show" makes people look at this veteran in the table tennis world even more impressively.
That's why Malone was able to take down Lebrun easily – not just because of his technical excellence, but also because of his mastery of psychological warfare. Lebrun still has a long way to go in a game like this. And Ma Long has undoubtedly gone on this road.
After this match, let's discuss which young players do you think may become strong opponents for Ma Long in the future, or what challenges do you think Ma Long will face in future matches? Share your thoughts and let's look forward to the next exciting matchup!