On May 14, the Chinese Table Tennis Association announced the list of athletes participating in the women's singles and men's and women's team events of the Chinese national table tennis team at the 2024 Paris Olympics on its official website. The women's singles players are Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng. The women's team athletes are Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng, Wang Manyu, and Wang Yidi (P card: substitute). The men's team athletes are Wang Chuqin, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, and Liang Jingkun (P card).
According to the women's singles world ranking points and international competition bonus points announced by the International Table Tennis Federation on May 14, 2024, Sun Yingsha ranked the top two in the team's Olympic rankings with 30,050 points (women's singles world ranking points of 9,200 points + international competition bonus points of 20,850 points) and Chen Meng with 17,960 points (women's singles world ranking points of 6,410 points + international competition bonus points of 11,550 points), qualified for the women's singles competition, and was automatically selected for the women's team lineup.
Combined with the characteristics of the Olympic team competition system in both singles and doubles, and comprehensively considering the important factors that are conducive to the coaching staff in the team competition, such as the high ranking of Olympic singles selection points, the comprehensive technical ability of singles and doubles, and the excellent record against the main opponents, the coaching staff made collective decisions and put forward a list of recommendations, which were discussed by the selection leading group and reported to the office meeting of the chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, Ma Long is the third person in the men's team, Liang Jingkun is the men's AP substitute athlete, Wang Manyu is the third person in the group, and Wang Yidi is the women's AP substitute athlete.
As a leader in the new generation of national table tennis, Sun Yingsha has repeatedly achieved good results in the international arena with her excellent skills and tenacious fighting spirit. At the Tokyo Olympics, Sun Yingsha, who participated in the Olympic Games for the first time, lived up to everyone's expectations, ranked second in singles, won the championship in the team competition, especially in the key battles of the two events, defeated the Japanese women's singles number one player at the time, Misei Ito, and defended the honor of national table tennis.
During the Paris Olympics cycle, Sun Yingsha created amazing results, ranking first in the women's singles rankings in the world and locking in the women's singles qualification for the Paris Olympics in advance. This is her second Olympic journey and will compete in the women's team, women's singles and mixed doubles.
At the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, Chen Meng won gold medals in the women's team and women's singles. In the women's singles final of the WTT Saudi Arabia Grand Slam, after a thrilling battle, Chen Meng defeated teammate Sun Yingsha 4-2 and won the championship. She qualified for singles at the last minute and is about to step on the Olympic stage for the second time.
Ma Lin, the head coach of the women's team, said: "Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng were selected for the singles list with the top two Olympic selection points. In the whole process of preparation, Wang Manyu showed the spirit of tenacious struggle and winning glory for the country and his personal strength, and was the best candidate to serve as the third person in the group. The selection of P card players mainly considers doubles ability and comprehensive strength in recent years, and the coaching staff unanimously believes that Wang Yidi is the most suitable. ”
The Chinese Table Tennis Association has previously announced the list of mixed doubles and men's singles athletes participating in the Paris Olympics. The mixed doubles players are Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha, and the men's singles players are Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong.
Wang Hao, head coach of the men's team, said: "Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong deserve to be the top two singles and team members in the selection. Ma Long has participated in many Olympic Games, won three men's team and two men's singles championships, and his performance in various competitions in the past year is also obvious to all, and he is fully qualified to be the third person in the team. The P-card athlete chose Liang Jingkun because the coaching staff valued his progress and quality in the Paris Olympic cycle. ”
Regarding the public list of athletes participating in the Paris Olympics of the Chinese team, Li Falcon, the head coach of the national team, said: "The selection of the Paris Olympics is to better complete the task of participating in the Paris Olympics. The coaching staff strictly followed the selection method, and the final selected Olympic squad will represent China, which will definitely win glory for the country and continue to write the glory of national table tennis. ”
The list of athletes participating in the Paris Olympics is as follows:
Men's singles: Wang Chuqin, Fan Zhendong
Women's singles events: Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng
Men's Team Events: Wang Chuqin, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, Liang Jingkun (Substitute P Card)
Women's Team Event: Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng, Wang Manyu, Wang Yidi (Substitute P Card)
Mixed Doubles: Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha
Text/Beiqing Sports Zhou Xueshuai