Lock in Olympic singles qualification
In the women's singles semifinals of the WTT Saudi Arabia Grand Slam on May 10, Chen Meng staged a wonderful reversal drama, swept Japan's Hina Hayada with an absolute advantage of 4-0 and advanced to the final. The victory not only sealed her spot in the final, but also gave her an early start on the track where she could qualify for Olympic singles.
Later, it can also be on top
In fact, before the start of the WTT Saudi Arabia Grand Slam, the gap between Chen Meng and Wang Manyu was already very large. Starting from 2024, Chen Meng's internal and external war status has declined, while Wang Manyu's condition is not bad. Many fans analyzed that Chen Meng's chances of being on the top were very slim, but the reality was unexpectedly reversed. So, how difficult is Chen Meng's counterattack against Wang Manyu this time?
As of the start of the WTT Saudi Arabia Grand Slam, Chen Meng has 1,555 points less than Wang Manyu, and if he leads Wang Manyu again, Chen Meng must complete one of the following three goals in the event:
If you lose after encountering a player from a foreign association, you will be deducted 3,000 points, and Wang Manyu, who did not lose the foreign war, will not have to be deducted points, and Chen Meng will be out;
After encountering teammates, he was defeated, although he did not need to deduct points, but it was not enough to surpass Wang Manyu's points;
No matter who you meet and win the championship in the end, this will ensure that you can beat Wang Manyu.
However, the matchup arrangement of the match means that Chen Meng and Wang Manyu will not face domestic players until the semi-finals, which means that they will all face strong foreign opponents, making Chen's second goal difficult to achieve. If Chen Meng loses to Wang Manyu in the semifinals, she will lose her chance to qualify for the Olympic singles.
In addition, Chen Meng's signing in this competition is more challenging than Wang Manyu's. Her division includes two of Japan's best players, Miu Hirano and Miwa Haramoto, as well as Romania's Szokos, who has beaten her in the past. In contrast, Wang Manyu will face Hina Hayata, but she's never missed a shot against her opponent, and the rest of her division doesn't seem to pose a real threat to her.
However, fate is always full of uncertainties. Wang's surprise loss to India's Batra in the second round gave Chen Meng a glimmer of hope. She defeated three Japanese players in a row and almost single-handedly put the Japanese women's table tennis team in trouble. At the same time, Wang's defeat undoubtedly put her on the road to Olympic singles qualification.
The competition for Olympic singles qualification has always been a major problem for the coaching staff, and the coaching staff was already in a dilemma when each association could send three players to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Since London 2012, each association has been able to send only two athletes, which has made the choice even harder!
New regulations require new countermeasures
In this round of the Paris Olympic cycle, the national table tennis coaching staff did not make a clear plan for the competition for Olympic singles qualification in advance, which is the key to the controversy in the outside world. Moreover, this year's new rules have made the competition extremely cruel: once a women's singles player loses in a foreign war, 3,000 Olympic points will be immediately deducted, which is so strict that it is distressing, and even some players' points have become negative, which can not help but make fans and friends sigh.
Against this backdrop, every decision made by the coaching staff is particularly important, not only about the Olympic dreams of the athletes, but also about the hearts of hundreds of millions of fans. Everyone is eager to compete on the Olympic stage, but the quota is limited, and the brutality of the competition speaks for itself. In such an environment, the coaching staff needs to be careful in every choice, taking into account not only the strength and condition of the players, but also the strategy and layout of the game.
Although the brutality of the rules is distressing, it also motivates the players to constantly improve themselves and strive to perform at their best in every competition. After all, only those who are truly prepared can stand out in this fierce competition and win the ultimate victory. Let's wait and see, and look forward to Chen Meng's performance in the next games!