Table tennis is booming around the world, and the Japanese and Chinese teams have been the dominant forces in the sport. In the past few decades, the two strong teams have formed a competitive situation.
And just recently, an exciting news once again ignited the battle between the "Dragon and Phoenix" in the history of Chinese and Japanese table tennis - the World Table Tennis Federation announced the ranking of the youngest female athlete to enter the world's top 10, including a number of Chinese and Japanese players. Let's wait and see how this new generation of power will write its own table tennis legend in the future.
In third place in this ranking is Miwa Zhangmoto, a 15-year-old genius girl from Japan. At this age, she actually won the bronze medal in the Macau World Cup last year and became the biggest dark horse in the competition.
What's even more amazing is that earlier this year, Miwa Zhang broke into the top 20 of the ITTF world rankings, becoming another rising Japanese star after Misei Ito.
It is no wonder that at the Macau World Cup, Miwa Zhang's outstanding performance stunned all fans. In the group stage, she swept China's first-line player Wang Yidi 4:1 in the first round of elimination, allowing everyone to see her terrifying strength.
Although the semi-finals were ultimately blocked by China's Golden Flower King Manyu, Zhang Benmeihe has won countless applause to advance to the semifinals in such a competition. After all, at the age of 15, she has the strength to challenge the first-line masters of the Chinese women's team, which is definitely a great achievement!
Some analysts believe that the reason why Zhang Benmeihe can make rapid progress in a short period of time is largely due to her outstanding talent and fanatical love for table tennis. Moreover, as a professional athlete, Zhang Benmeihe has received high-intensity and high-quality training since he was a child, and his physical fitness and technical and tactical reserves are very solid.
Coupled with Zhang Benmeihe's cheerful and sunny personality, she is eager to learn and progress, which allows her to continue to learn from the coach, quickly absorb new knowledge, and improve her tactical literacy. From this point of view, her success is not accidental, but an excellent combination of strength and opportunity.
However, for Zhang Benmeihe, it may take a while of experience to break through the encirclement in the women's world ranking and really stand out. After all, she is just a young shoot that has not fully bloomed, and there is still a certain gap between the main force of the Chinese women's team.
But judging from her current rate of progress, we have every reason to believe that Zhang Benmei and will soon be able to enter the top ten in the world and become the absolute top team of the Chinese women's team in the future. Will she become another Japanese genius after Ito?
Compared with Zhang Benmeihe, Sun Yingsha, another Chinese post-00 talent on the list, is slightly inferior in the ranking, ranking 5th. However, this does not mean that her potential is worse than Zhang Ben.
In fact, judging from all aspects of data, Sun Yingsha's talent is definitely not inferior to Zhang Benmeihe. Since she was a child, she has shown an outstanding ball quotient and a keen sense of offensive and defensive conversion, and she is another potential rookie who has high hopes for national table tennis since Guo Yue and Li Jiawei.
It's a pity that Sun Yingsha's performance has been up and down slightly in recent years. Although she reached the semifinals of the ITTF finals in 2021, her performance in larger events, such as the Olympics and the World Cup, was slightly mediocre. This also had a direct impact on her position in the world rankings.
However, steady play has always been a tradition in Chinese table tennis, and for a young talent like Sun Yingsha, patience is necessary. I believe that as long as she can continue to calm down and sharpen herself under the guidance of the coaching staff, sooner or later she will be able to shine the brightest light.
After all, throughout the history of Chinese table tennis, from Zhang Yining to Wang Manyu, from Ma Long to Xu Xin, all of them have gradually become better in the precipitation of the years, and finally achieved late blooming. Sun Yingsha's current achievements are just a milestone on the road of table tennis in her life.
We have every reason to believe that with the accumulation of practical experience, Sun Yingsha will be able to break into the top ten in the world in the near future, and even become the leader of the new generation of the Chinese women's team. As long as she maintains her current diligence and self-motivated mentality, the future can be expected!
In addition to Zhang Benmeihe and Sun Yingsha, the first and second places in this ranking are also worth paying attention to, because they are occupied by two "genius girls" in China and Japan.
Among them, the top of the list is China's Guo Yue. Born in 1999, the "dryland prodigy" broke into the world's top 10 at the age of 14 years, 5 months and 15 days, setting a new record.
In contrast, Japan's Misei Ito, who came in second place, was a few days behind Guo Yue, but she achieved this feat at 14 years, 7 months and 11 days, which is also remarkable. The emergence of these two talented children is undoubtedly the best interpretation of the table tennis youth training system of China and Japan.
From this perspective, China and Japan have always been leaders in developing top players, especially in identifying and nurturing talented young talents. This not only allowed the Chinese and Japanese teams to make miraculous achievements in major competitions, but also injected a steady stream of fresh blood into the entire table tennis world.
With the addition of Guo Yue, Misei Ito, Zhang Benmeiwa and other new stars, I believe that the comparison of strength between China and Japan will be more exciting in the future. Perhaps in the near future, we will be able to see a battle of the focus of the century starring the "Army of Talented Girls".
It will be a magnificent matchup, let's wait and see!However, in addition to the well-known players such as Zhang Benmeihe, Sun Yingsha and Guo Yue, there are actually more potential new stars hidden in this ranking.
For example, in fourth place is the Japanese 17-year-old genius Miu Hirano. Although she is slightly older than Miwa Haramoto, Misei Ito and others, her results are equally impressive.
At last year's World Table Tennis Championships, Miu Hirano was the biggest dark horse, passing all the way and finally winning the women's singles championship. She became the second young player in the Japanese team to win the championship on this stage after Mimato Ito.
Speaking with strength, Miu Hirano proved her strength to the world, and also made people see the unlimited potential of the Japanese women's team. In the future, she will go hand in hand with Miwa Zhangmoto and Misei Ito to form the "Iron Triangle" of Japan's new generation.
In the face of this budding new force, the Chinese women's team must not take it lightly. In addition to Sun Yingsha, who has long been ready to go, Chen Meng, Wang Manyu, Wang Yidi and other young players are also preparing intensively, looking forward to greater breakthroughs in the future.
Behind them, there are more potential post-00s and even post-10 young players brewing to grow. For example, Zhou Keyue, who has just turned 14, is a rising star, and she has made a name for herself in some recent youth competitions.
It is rumored that Zhou Keyue has been understood by the national team coaching staff, and is likely to be transferred to the national youth team in the future to receive targeted training. If all goes well, she will become another "genius girl" new favorite of the Chinese team after Guo Yue.
Not only at home, but also in other parts of the world, there are also top young talents competing to rise. At last year's European Championships, 15-year-old Romanian talent Domonga won the women's singles title.
There are many such "post-00 talents", such as Chen Xi in Singapore, Wu Jiayun in the United States, etc., they are the most shining new stars in today's table tennis world. In contrast, China and Japan are still dominant, but the future of talent may come from anywhere in the world.
This will undoubtedly make the future pattern of table tennis more exciting. At that time, it will no longer be a single Sino-Japanese confrontation, but the "Vientiane Gun Halberd" of the world's top geniuses, and no one will have absolute superiority. The lineup of stars we know now could be upended at any time by the power of a new generation.
The new era gives birth to new heroes, and only the later waves can decide the eastward flow of the Taotao River. Let's wait and see, what kind of great changes will be ushered in on this table tennis stage, which was once controlled by oligarchs!
In any case, embracing change is the way to progress. As fans, we are fortunate that we are now witnessing the rise of new table tennis stars and will surely see more exciting moments in the future.
In the face of increasingly fierce international table tennis competition, both the Chinese team and the Japanese team are facing unprecedented pressure and challenges. But at the same time, this pressure will also force them to increase their cultivation efforts, inject more fresh blood, and contribute more eye-catching talents to the world table tennis arena.
So, let's look forward to what kind of sparks and collisions this passionate table tennis world will usher in! And you, have you been excited about this new wave of the new generation? Come and leave a message and share with us your unique insights on the future pattern of table tennis!