On the just-announced Olympic standings list, although our national table tennis "first brother" Ma Long temporarily rose to the third place in the standings by virtue of winning the championship in the latest event, the tragedy is that he still has no chance to directly participate in the singles competition of the upcoming Paris Olympics. According to the previously announced selection method, the places for direct entry into the Olympic singles will be divided between Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong. This is undoubtedly a heavy blow for Ma Long, who has been the core of the Chinese table tennis team for many years and the biggest favorite for Olympic gold medals. But this is the fate of the people, even if it is an Olympic gold medalist, it is impossible to escape the fate of being eliminated by the trend of the times.
In women's singles, the situation is also not optimistic. Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu still occupy the top two positions in the standings, while Chen Meng, who is closely behind, has fallen behind a lot. The next WTT Saudi Arabia Grand Slam may be Chen Meng's last chance, but it may also be an unattainable goal to make up for the disadvantage by supplementing points with a single stop. Wang Manyu is in full swing, and Chen Meng seems to be entering the twilight of her career, which will undoubtedly bring more uncertainty to the future Olympic journey of Chinese women's table tennis.
In general, this Olympic points update is undoubtedly a huge shock for the Chinese table tennis team. Although we still have a lot of outstanding athletes, with the passage of time, the rise of rookies and the decline of veterans, the future of the Olympic road of national table tennis may be full of uncertainties. We'll wait and see if the Chinese table tennis team can once again raise their eyebrows at the Olympics.