As the Paris Olympics approach, the national table tennis Olympic squad is about to be revealed after the Saudi Grand Slam. I don't know if you have found it, in fact, the Olympic prototype of national table tennis has gradually taken shape, Wang Chuqin, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long of men's table tennis, Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Chen Meng of women's table tennis have been more and more recognized by fans.
However, according to the news from the front line of the Saudi Grand Slam that will start today, the Olympic mixed doubles and men's singles selections will end on May 7, while the women's singles Olympic trials will end on May 11. Therefore, although there have been many tournaments since the beginning of this year, this Saudi Grand Slam is indeed of great significance.
Today is May Day, first of all, I wish you all a happy holiday. It is reported that the national table tennis has departed from Saudi Arabia from Beijing overnight on the evening of April 30, and after arriving in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, it will do the adjustment of the time difference and the adaptation training of the venue, and then will participate in the draw ceremony on May 2 to officially open the Saudi Grand Slam mode.
Jeddah is the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital Riyadh and the commercial center of the country. With 135 skyscrapers, more than 320 business districts, and numerous sculptures and models designed by artists, it is the tourist capital of Saudi Arabia, visited by 5 million people every year.
Jeddah is on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, on the shores of the Red Sea, across the Red Sea from the Republic of Sudan in Africa. Sixty-five kilometers east of Jeddah is the holy city of Mecca. And it is not far from the other holy city of Medina, 360 kilometers to the north. Jeddah has become the entrance to many Muslims around the world on pilgrimage.
"Jeddah" comes from the Arabic word for "grandmother". Because there is a site in Jeddah, which is said to be the tomb of Eve. Of course, this is just a legend that has been circulating since the 12th century. According to some folk beliefs, Eve is the "grandmother of mankind", so Jeddah is also named after "grandmother".
The venue for the Grand Slam is set up at the King Abdullah Stadium in Jeddah, covering an area of 9 million square meters, including a football field with a capacity of 100,000 spectators, training halls, tennis courts, squash courts, track and field fields, cycling tracks, swimming pools, hospitals, hotels and catering facilities. The King Abdullah Sports City Stadium has also hosted a number of important events, including the 2018 South American Super Derby and the 2018 Italian Super Cup, as well as the 2020 Spanish Super Cup.
To get back to the point, the national table tennis sent a delegation of 42 people, the specific list is as follows:
1. Team Leader: Qin Zhijian, He Xiao, Head Coach: Li Falcon.
2. Coaches: Ma Lin, Wang Hao, Qiu Yike, Sun Xun, Xiao Zhan, Cui Qinglei, Liu Heng, Liu Zhiqiang, Xu Hui.
3. Participants: Wang Chuqin, Fan Zhendong, Liang Jingkun, Ma Long, Lin Gaoyuan, Lin Shidong, Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Wang Yidi, Chen Meng, Chen Xingtong, Qian Tianyi.
4. Sparring players: He Zhuojia, Wang Tianyi, Zhang Rui, Liu Dingshuo, Xue Fei, Yu Ziyang, Zhou Qihao.
5. Physical fitness division: Song Junchen, Song Mingkuo, Wang Xiang, Sun Qi, Ye Zhengyang, Yang Xianjun.
6. Rehabilitation Division: Chen Fangcan, Team Doctor: Yuan Chaoming, Liu Cunzhi, Meng Yuren, Mo Guangchao.
As for the May Day events that everyone cares about, the 1st to 3rd are all qualifying tournaments, and the competition starts at 15:30 every afternoon. It should be noted that the draw ceremony for the main competition is expected to be held on the 2nd, and the results of the first round of each event will be produced. The No. 3 qualifying tournament ended, and at the same time, the first round of the main tournament was released, and the national table tennis will start to play on May 4.
The first round of the men's singles and women's singles qualifying tournaments will be played 32 matches respectively, and today is the first day of the qualifying tournament, with 21 matches each for men's and women's singles. The match is played on two tables at the same time, with a best-of-five format, starting at 10:30 local time, with a preset time of half an hour for each game and continuing until 20:30 local time. Since China is 5 hours ahead of Saudi Arabia, the start time is 15:30 Beijing time.
Today, there are ready to appear one after another: Shinozuka Daito, who was selected for the men's team lineup of the Japanese table tennis Paris Olympics, will make his debut as a new star focused on the cultivation of Japanese table tennis. He has defeated Wang Chuqin, Zhang Benzhihe, India's main player Gana Sekaran.
The Mukherjee sisters, who have a unique style of play, Chinese Taipei's Jian Tongjuan, Singapore's Zhou Jingyi, Hong Kong's Li Haoqing, and France's Charlotte Lutz will all appear. Greek chipping veteran Gionis, Spanish World Table Tennis Championships men's doubles runner-up Robles and other foreign association personnel, began to swing their rackets at 15:30 in the afternoon to strive for the qualification of the main competition.
Today is the first to heat up the Saudi Grand Slam, and the follow-up will be with fans and friends to pay attention to the process of the event, I am the story hidden in the years, and I have been commenting on the game with you, today's story says that table tennis is here, happy May Day, goodbye!