Table tennis has always been the home of the Chinese team. However, in recent years, a number of young Japanese and European players have begun to emerge in international competitions, challenging the dominance of the Chinese team. At last month's World Table Tennis Championships, 18-year-old Japanese talent Miwa Haramoto dazzled countless fans. She defeated a number of Chinese players and made it all the way to the semifinals before Chen Meng ended her dream.
This time, at the World Tour Finals in Saudi Arabia, Miu Hirano and Chen Meng faced each other again. The last time the two faced off was back in last year's World Cup final, when Hirano lost but overtook in the fourth game, which surprised the then world No. 1 Chen Meng.
After a year, Hirano's strength has improved further. Despite being ranked only 6th in the world, she is already among the top in the world. Earlier in the finals, she defeated India's Batra and Germany's Samarra, both of whom are tournament regulars and should not be underestimated. For Chen Meng, the importance of this game is self-evident.
With the battle to secure Olympic qualification looming, Sun Yingsha is far ahead in terms of Olympic points and has almost been confirmed for her first Olympic women's singles spot. And Chen Meng and Wang Manyu started a hand-to-hand battle to the death.
However, in the round of 16, Wang Manyu was unexpectedly defeated by India's dark horse Batra and lost 3,000 precious points. This makes her temporarily 1445 points behind Chen Meng in the standings. In other words, if Chen can remain unbeaten in the next four matches, she will qualify for the Olympics 100%.
Facing Miu Hirano was an important step for Chen Meng to win the Olympic ticket. The past record of the two sides is 8 to 1, and Chen Meng has an absolute advantage. As the match hit it off, Chen Meng quickly showed strong dominance, sweeping Hirano in just 27 minutes with a one-sided score of 11:2, 11:2, 11:7.
After the match, Hirano's coach was disappointed with her poor performance, and the swaggering Japanese genius looked ugly. After all, she has made great strides in the past year, often pinning down strong Chinese opponents in competitions, and sometimes even overwhelming her opponents. But in this crucial battle, she lost for nothing.
As No. 3 in the world, losing to No. 1 is beyond reproach. But Hirano was in an awkward position, and she could have taken advantage of the tournament to keep up with the top two in the standings. But now it seems that the Olympic singles qualification has been denied her. All she can do may be to build up her energy for the team event at the Tokyo Olympics.
As for Chen Meng, she was like a spring breeze, sweeping away all obstacles. Facing her next opponent, Miwa Zhangmoto, her confidence will undoubtedly be full. The 15-year-old Japanese is undoubtedly talented, but it's still too early to excel at the Olympic top. In terms of experience and aura, Chen Meng clearly has the upper hand.
What's more, from Sun Yingsha's body, we have seen the tragic situation of young geniuses encountering the "curse" of Chinese veterans. Zhang Benmeihe was also a promising new star at the beginning, but in the World Cup last month, she was suppressed by Sun Yingsha all the way and couldn't even enter the semifinals. So if she is unlucky, she is likely to become a stepping stone for Chen Meng.
As for Wang Manyu, she may be going through the most frustrating time of her life. With only one last chance to compete for points left before the Olympics, she dropped the chain at a crucial moment. The people around her were naturally comforting her, saying that there are still team competitions, as well as next year's World Cup and World Championships. But she knows that the individual singles event is the highest honor in table tennis. It's really embarrassing to pass by the dream Olympics like this.
However, Wang Manyu is still young, only 22 years old, and she has the time and opportunity to prepare for the next Olympic Games. In contrast, Chen Mengke had to hurry. She will turn 30 this year, and this could be her last chance to challenge for Olympic singles gold. If she gets the ticket, she will give it her all and make the best of her career.
Let's wait and see how this battle between veterans and rookies will end in the end. Who will win the diamond eternity?