Table tennis is known as the "national sport" in China, and the brilliant achievements of several generations of players are even more proud of the Chinese people. In the men's singles semifinals of the 2024 ITTF Singles World Cup, a fierce civil war of national table tennis was staged.
At the beginning of the game, the young Wang Chuqin took the initiative, relying on his flexible ball path and precise force, and soon played a 6-2 lead. However, Malone is experienced after all, he responded calmly, quickly found his rhythm, launched a fierce counterattack, and successfully overtook the score after a wave of 7-1 attacks. The two sides fell into a white-hot tug-of-war, and after a fierce battle, Ma Long took the lead and won the first game 11-9.
At the beginning of the second game, Malone seemed to have found an excellent state and played a 6-0 start. Although the young Wang Chuqin once fell into passivity, he was not discouraged at all, gritted his teeth and began to fight back a little, gradually tying the point difference, and once overtook Ma Long in the middle game. But when it came to the final kick, Lao Ma's steadiness prevailed, and he overcame the pressure at the end of the game and scored three consecutive points to pull one back 12-10.
Entering the crucial third game, Malone sat firmly on the initiative and maintained the lead with his threatening topspin and unpredictable tactical deployment. Although Wang Chuqin never gave up, he once chased only 2 points behind in the middle game, but Ma Long controlled the situation in time, and then won the round with 3 consecutive points 11-6, and the big score came to a 3-0 lead.
At the beginning of the fourth game, Malone still won the game and quickly advanced 5-2. This time, Wang Chuqin finally called a timeout, as if he wanted to adjust his mentality. After the restart, the young people fought tenaciously and tried their best to narrow the score a little bit, once forcing Malone to only lead by 1 point. However, in this attacking stage, Ma Long showed a very high psychological quality, he steadily resolved Wang Chuqin's 4 match point threats, and scored two points in a row at the critical moment to catch the game 14-12, and swept his teammates with a total score of 4-0 to advance to the finals.
This national table tennis civil war can be described as a strong contest in the Chinese table tennis world. Ma Long showed the ability of a veteran to be experienced and fearless in the face of danger, he was comfortable on the field, and he was able to win the decisive victory at the last moment; Although Wang Chuqin failed to break through in the end, he also showed the tenacious fighting spirit and outstanding talent of the rising star, which fully confirmed the smooth relay of the replacement of the old and the new in Chinese table tennis.
Ma Long's performance in this World Cup can be described as a success, in the group stage he won six consecutive straight to the top 8, and in the knockout stage, he swept Portugal and the United States, two strong opponents, and defeated his teammates 4-0 in the semi-finals, all the way high. He will meet either Lin Gaoyuan or one of Zhang Benzhihe in the final, and no matter who he is against, it will not be easy to defeat Ma Long in the final. The 33-year-old is now in the prime of his playing career, and he has the right time and place to do so, and with his superior strength and experience, he is fully expected to continue his success in this World Cup.
As a leading figure in Chinese table tennis, Ma Long's every expedition carries the high hopes of Chinese fans. Since playing in elementary school, he has attracted much attention and is regarded as a new generation of Chinese pillar players after Wang Liqin and Wang Hao. Malone was already on the scene as a teenager, beating world No. 1 Polkanov in 2009 at the age of 16 to win the Youth World Cup the following year. In 2011, Ma Long joined the national team in a high-profile manner, and soon created impressive records in a number of events, and gradually became the first brother in China.
In the blink of an eye, Ma Long has left the flower season as a teenager for more than ten years. Over the years, he has matured and become more and more courageous, and he has conquered almost all the crowns including world championships, Olympic champions, World Cup champions, including Grand Slams. He has twice won the ITTF Male Athlete of the Year award, and at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he was the runner-up and missed the championship. To this day, Ma Long's only regret is that he has not won the championship in the singles World Cup, and if he finally reaches the top in this competition, he will become the second Chinese player after Xu Xin to win the championship in both the singles and doubles World Cup.
In the face of the continuous catch-up of the new generation of players, Ma Long, who is still in his age, is obviously getting older. However, he did not feel any danger in the face of the strong challengers who appeared around him, but became more and more determined in his ball path and fighting spirit, and became more and more stable after experiencing life and death battles. Years ago, Ma Long may have been young and vigorous, and he would be emotionally disturbed or suffer from labor pains at every turn, but now he has formed his own unique defeat routine, accustomed to actively suppressing opponents and avoiding being brought into his own rhythm by opponents.
Watching Malone calmly and calmly solve one opponent after another on the field, fans can no longer see the young man who was easily angry or disordered when he was a child. After countless life-and-death competitions, Malone has fully grown into a qualified and stable top player.