Competitive sports, especially those that focus more on individual strength, are generally very awkward in the relationship between team members.
Because they are cooperative teammates in the team competition, but they are highly competitive opponents in the singles competition, it is rare for them to actually have a very good relationship with each other.
Today, let's take stock of the four pairs of girlfriends with the best relationship with the women's team in the past 20 years of the Chinese table tennis team:
One: Zhang Yining & Ding Ning
Zhang Yining was born in 1981 and Ding Ning was born in 1990, Zhang Yining is 9 years older than Ding Ning.
Zhang Yining and Ding Ning can be said to be both teachers and friends, because of the age gap, there is basically no competition between the two.
Ding Ning came to Beijing from Heilongjiang in 2000 and entered the Beijing team, at this time Zhang Yining was the absolute number one main force of the Beijing team, and slowly grew into the second main force second only to Wang Nan in the national team.
In 2005, when Ding Ning entered the national first team, Zhang Yining had already won the Olympic championship and became the third Grand Slam of the women's team after Deng Yaping and Wang Nan.
At that time, in Ding Ning's heart, Zhang Yining was his idol, and it was also in this year that Ding Ning began to become the main force of Beijing women's table tennis.
At this year's National Games, Ding Ning was the No. 3 main force of Beijing women's table tennis, but in the semifinals of the women's team, she played a solo savior, and finally successfully helped Beijing women's table tennis defend the women's team championship.
When participating in national competitions, the head coach of Beijing women's table tennis always arranges for Zhang Yining and Ding Ning to live in the same room, this is because Ding Ning is the next generation of leaders trained by Beijing women's table tennis, so the head coach also hopes that Ding Ning can learn more from Zhang Yining.
In Ding Ning's own words: "Sister Ning has always been very good to me, in fact, she doesn't have to say anything, she is already leading by example." ”
Zhang Yining is also strict and caring for Ding Ning, in the National Games Beijing women's table tennis against Shanghai women's table tennis, because Beijing women's table tennis has achieved an absolute advantage, so as Beijing women's table tennis three singles Ding Ning played against Yao Yan of Shanghai women's table tennis three singles, because the two had a good personal relationship, Ding Ning played a little not seriously.
After coming down, Ding Ning was happy, but was scolded by Zhang Yining, saying that she should not lose a few balls, but after scolding, she helped Ding Ning to summarize.
After winning the women's team championship in the National Games, Zhang Yining commented on Ding Ning: "We are too familiar with each other, Ding Ning has made great progress in the past two years, and she is also very comprehensive in technology, and she will be a strong main force for our Beijing team and national team in the future." ”
In addition, one year in the Table Tennis Super League, Ding Ning was not the main force in the Beijing team at that time, so she basically did not have the opportunity to play, and she had no awareness of playing, but who knew that once the head coach of the Beijing team, Zhou Shusen, suddenly asked Ding Ning to change his shoes and train with Zhang Yining, but who knew that Ding Ning turned over his bag and did not bring training shoes, Zhang Yining glared at Ding Ning and did not speak.
After becoming the main force of the Beijing team, Ding Ning once played a game with Ai Fukuhara in the Table Tennis Super League, and he played very badly, and Coach Zhou Shusen's face changed off the court.
So after Ding Ning came down, Zhang Yining was afraid that Coach Zhou Shusen would scold Ding Ning, so he grabbed Coach Zhou Shusen and said before Coach Zhou Shusen spoke: "What did you play today?"
But who knew that Ding Ning was in a hurry when he heard Zhang Yining say that he was in a hurry, and directly threw the towel on the ground: "I've tried my best enough, I've worked hard enough!
It can also be seen from this that Ding Ning cares a lot about Zhang Yining's opinion of himself.
In 2008, at the Beijing Olympic Games, Zhang Yining joined hands with Wang Nan and Guo Yue, and finally not only won the women's singles championship but also won the women's team championship.
In the 2009 National Games, Ding Ning had grown into the second singles of the Beijing team at this time, and the two still lived in the same room.
Once Zhang Yining suddenly asked Ding Ning: "If I get married, are you willing to be my bridesmaid, and are you willing to wear a skirt for me." ”
She has never worn a skirt since Ding Ning was conscious, and she has always had short hair after playing, so she was often called a "tomboy" at that time.
But after Zhang Yining said that sentence, Ding Ning began to grow long hair, and finally at Zhang Yining's wedding, she became Zhang Yining's bridesmaid.
And Zhang Yining also announced his retirement after the wedding, and in this way, the era of the Beijing team's "Big and Small Ning" came to a complete end.
However, although Zhang Yining retired, her relationship with Ding Ning has not changed, and the two have had many private gatherings later, and their relationship is still the same.
Two: Ding Ning & Yao Yan
Yao Yan was born in 1988, two years older than Ding Ning, but the two have been in the national first team for about the same time, and they are also the same team members.
But even if it is the same group of players, there are strong and weak among them, Ding Ning is the one who is focused on training in that group of players, and Yao Yan is not eye-catching in that group of players, it can even be said that if it weren't for the relationship with Xu Xin, there should be few fans who still know Yao Yan now.
Perhaps it is precisely because the competition between them is not very big that Ding Ning and Yao Yan have established a deep friendship shortly after entering the national team, or it can also be said that the personalities of the two are very compatible and fun.
When it comes to Yao Yan, I have to say Xu Xin, because the two are not only teammates of the Shanghai team, but also enter the national team together, which can be regarded as childhood sweethearts.
Three or four years after entering the national team, Xu Xin and Yao Yan have been together, but the table tennis team is very strict about the love management between male and female players.
Like Wang Hao, Fan Ying, Ma Lin Baiyang, Zhang Jike, Liu Shiwen, etc., they were all beaten with sticks, so Xu Xin also faced such a situation after falling in love with Yao Yan.
In the end, Yao Yan chose to retire, because she was not very competitive in the women's team at that time, and she may be a sub-main force if she topped the sky, and it was almost impossible to enter the main layer.
It is also because Yao Yan and Xu Xin are in love, and the relationship between Ding Ning and Xu Xin has also improved, even at that time, Ding Ning has not been very good at chipping, and Xu Xin has his own set of methods for chipping, so Xu Xin taught Ding Ning his experience in chipping, and it is also because Ding Ning called Xu Xin his "master".
After Yao Yan retired, she and Xu Xin almost became a long-distance relationship (Yao Yan lives in Shanghai), so sometimes when she and Xu Xin had conflicts and quarrels, it was Ding Ning who helped make peace between the two, which is why Xu Xin sometimes didn't dare to provoke Ding Ning.
In 2016, Xu Xin finally won the Olympic championship (Rio men's team champion), so after the Olympics, he wanted to organize a marriage proposal ceremony for Yao Yan.
Therefore, before the concert of idol Yang Zongwei began, Xu Xin specially told Ding Ning to bring Yao Yan to the scene, I believe many fans have also witnessed this moment, Xu Xin knelt down on one knee and proposed to Yao Yan, but Yao Yan excitedly hugged Ding Ning next to him.
Later, Xu Xin complained many times during the live broadcast about this matter, which shows how much he cares, but it also shows that the relationship between Yao Yan and Ding Ning is indeed very good.
Now Ding Ning has also retired for several years, but she not only often interacts with Yao Yan on social media, but also often gathers in private.
Three: Li Xiaoxia & Chen Meng
Li Xiaoxia was born in 1988, Chen Meng was born in 1994, and Li Xiaoxia is six years older than Chen Meng.
Although Li Xiaoxia is a native of Anshan, Liaoning, she came to Shandong to play when she was 10 years old, and has been playing for the Shandong team since then.
is also because of this, Chen Meng is almost what Li Xiaoxia grew up watching, whether it is entering the Shandong team or the national team, Li Xiaoxia is Chen Meng's eldest sister.
It is worth mentioning that Li Xiaoxia and Chen Meng's careers are almost similar.
Li Xiaoxia has been suppressed by Guo Yue in the early stage of her career, and Chen Meng has been suppressed by Zhu Yuling in the early stage of her career.
But later Li Xiaoxia won the Grand Slam, while Guo Yue hastily announced his retirement at the age of 26 due to injuries and head coaching.
Although Chen Meng has not yet achieved the Grand Slam, she has won the Olympic women's singles championship and is only one step away from the Grand Slam, and Zhu Yuling, who has been suppressing her in the early stage, announced her retirement at the age of 26 after the Tokyo Olympics due to troughs, injuries and other problems.
The relationship between Chen Meng and Li Xiaoxia is like the relationship between Ding Ning and Zhang Yining.
For a long time in the Shandong team, Li Xiaoxia was the No. 1 main force, and Chen Meng was the No. 2 main force, so it was often Li Xiaoxia who took Chen Meng to play.
And Chen Meng also trusts Li Xiaoxia the most, and the first thing he thinks of when he encounters difficulties is to confide in Li Xiaoxia, after all, Li Xiaoxia was much stronger than Chen Meng in terms of experience and strength at that time.
Fans who are familiar with Li Xiaoxia know that Li Xiaoxia has a very bold personality, and she always points out the problems that Chen Meng has shown mercilessly.
It may be precisely because of this reason that Chen Meng was able to progress so fast.
In 2016, after the Rio Olympics, Li Xiaoxia announced her retirement, and although Chen Meng was the main force in the national table tennis women's team at this time, her position was not stable, and she did not have any singles results.
After retiring, Li Xiaoxia has always been very concerned about Chen Meng's performance, during the 2018 World Championships team competition, Chen Meng's state has been not good, so in the game, Chen Meng almost always sat on the bench, watching Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen, and Zhu Yuling play on the court.
After winning the women's team championship, Chen Meng posted a post on social media to celebrate, but Li Xiaoxia commented directly: Can you make it hard.
This also shows that Li Xiaoxia is not very satisfied with Chen Meng's performance.
At the 2020 Qatar Open, Chen Meng defeated Misei Ito in the women's singles final to win the championship, and posted a summary on social media the next day.
It can be said that Li Xiaoxia has been paying attention to the ups and downs of Chen Meng's state, and she is not stingy in praise when she can criticize directly.
In addition to these competitions, there are also many interesting things between the two, such as in the 2019 Strongest Twelve-Man Tournament on the Surface, Chen Meng finally won the first place with a record of 10 wins and 1 loss.
Under Chen Meng's social media celebration, Li Xiaoxia appeared in time again, this time she said: What do you say?
Chen Meng replied: Is it okay to chat privately, my dear Sister Xia.
In this way, it can be seen that Li Xiaoxia and Chen Meng should be full of laughter and laughter when they get along in private.
It is worth mentioning that when Li Xiaoxia got married in 2017, Chen Meng was also a bridesmaid.
Four: Liu Shiwen & Che Xiaoxi
Liu Shiwen was born in 1991, Che Xiaoxi was born in 1993, Liu Shiwen is two years older than Che Xiaoxi.
Liu Shiwen entered the national team in 2005, and Che Xiaoxi entered the national team in 2008, and Liu Shiwen and Che Xiaoxi lived in a dormitory in the national team.
Although they are both members of the national team, Liu Shiwen and Che Xiaoxi are treated completely differently in the national team.
Liu Shiwen has entered the main layer in 2009, and Che Xiaoxi did not enter the national first team until 2013, and Che Xiaoxi has always been a sparring partner after entering the first team.
But Liu Shiwen is the main force, which means that she has to bear more pressure under the spotlight, such as the 2010 Moscow World Table Tennis Championships women's team final, she was temporarily mentioned to a single position by Shi Zhihao, the head coach of the women's team at the time.
In the end, Liu Shiwen lost two points alone, and the Chinese women's table tennis team also missed the World Championships women's team for nine consecutive championships.
Therefore, Liu Shiwen took on a lot of pressure during that time, and Che Xiaoxi was always by Liu Shiwen's side.
Whether it is training in the team, or going out to participate in activities together, or playing together, as long as Liu Shiwen and Che Xiaoxi participate together, then Che Xiaoxi can always be found not far from Liu Shiwen's side.
But the friendship between the two was not discovered by fans until the 2016 Rio Olympics after the national table tennis exploded, and it was after that that fans often posted photos of Liu Shiwen and Che Xiaoxi on the Internet, so enthusiastic fans would give the two of them a nickname of "a car of jujubes" (Liu Shiwen's nickname is Xiao Zao).
Because Liu Shiwen is the main force, she has more fans than Che Xiaoxi, so there are many fans of Liu Shiwen on Che Xiaoxi's social platform who often ask about Liu Shiwen's current situation, and even some fans ask Che Xiaoxi to take care of Liu Shiwen.
Some netizens feel that Che Xiaoxi may be angry when she sees the comment area, after all, it is her social account that says that it is all about Liu Shiwen, but Che Xiaoxi not only never gets angry, but often posts some photos with Liu Shiwen, and at the same time, like netizens, she goes to Liu Shiwen's short video account to urge changes.
Not only that, Che Xiaoxi really took care of Liu Shiwen as asked by netizens, she went to the airport to pick up Liu Shiwen more than once, and also accompanied Liu Shiwen back to her hometown.
Later, after Liu Shiwen left the national team, she and Liu Shiwen were also in the same team, and once when the two were training, Liu Shiwen was hungry, and Che Xiaoxi also doted on Liu Shiwen to order takeout.
At the 2023 "Weibo Night" event, Liu Shiwen won the "Weibo Favorite Athlete of the Year" award, and Liu Shiwen on the stage was dressed brightly.
But according to people familiar with the matter, that time Che Xiaoxi not only went to the airport to pick up Liu Shiwen in person, but also accompanied Liu Shiwen to participate in the event, and even from the video that flowed on the Internet, when Liu Shiwen changed her sneakers after the game, Che Xiaoxi kept helping Liu Shiwen carry her shoes.
It can be seen from this that Liu Shiwen and Che Xiaoxi not only help each other in training and competitions, but are also as close as girlfriends in private.
In addition to the above four pairs, everyone also feels that the pair of athletes in national table tennis had a close relationship before, welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss!