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From losing the men's singles to the men's team, Ma Long is back again!
On May 14, the Chinese Table Tennis Association announced the list of national table tennis players participating in the Paris Olympics, and Ma Long, as a member of the men's team, once again went to the Olympics to make up for his regret that he was unable to participate in the men's singles.
From the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a sparring partner to the 2012 London Olympics officially standing on the stage, Paris in 2024 is Ma Long's fourth Olympic Games.
At the age of 36, Ma Long continues to write his own legend in China's most competitive "national ball" project.
Malone
Unsuccessful
Ma Long's "love" with the Paris Olympics actually started with a bitter defeat.
As early as May 7, the Chinese Table Tennis Association announced the list of participants in the Paris Olympics once - the mixed doubles was played by Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha, and the men's singles was played by Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong. This also means that Ma Long, the defending Olympic men's table tennis singles champion and double-lap Grand Slam winner, will miss the men's singles triple championship and three-lap Grand Slam.
At that time, there were many voices that regretted Ma Long.
However, according to the "Selection Measures for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in Table Tennis (Revised Edition)" already issued by the Chinese Table Tennis Association, the two players participating in the men's singles of the Paris Olympics need to be determined according to the ranking points and reward points announced by the International Table Tennis Federation on May 7. At that time, Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong's points far surpassed Ma Long.
Judging from the overall strength and performance of the Paris Olympic cycle, with the increase in age, Ma Long, who was born in the 80s, is indeed unable to catch up with Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin, who was born in the 90s.
In the final of the 2024 Macau ITTF Men's World Cup, Ma Long defeated Lin Gaoyuan and won the championship Image source: Xinhua News Agency
Since the Paris Olympics cycle, Wang Chuqin has won many WTT (World Table Tennis Professional League) men's singles championships and Hangzhou Asian Games table tennis men's singles championships, and he has been in the limelight for a while; Fan Zhendong won the men's singles championship at the 2023 World Table Tennis Championships; Ma Long's singles champion in this cycle is the men's singles champion at the 2024 Macau ITTF World Cup. But Ma Long, who called himself an "accident" in winning the event, originally envisioned reaching the semi-finals.
Therefore, Ma Long lost the men's singles, although emotionally speaking, many people found it difficult to accept it for a while, but from the perspective of "defending this most important gold medal in foreign wars", Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong played the men's singles, and there was almost no controversy.
Make your dreams come true
After announcing part of the list on May 7, on May 14, the Chinese Table Tennis Association announced the list of the remaining national table tennis players to participate in the Paris Olympics. This time, Ma Long finally realized his dream as a member of the men's team.
Since the Olympic Games did not set gold medals in men's doubles and women's doubles, when Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong won the men's singles quota, the two directly occupied the two places in the men's team. If Malone wants to participate in the Paris Olympics, his only chance is to get the third place in the men's team. Otherwise, they can only be reduced to P card (substitute) players, and even miss the Paris Olympics.
The latest ITTF Men's Singles World Rankings ITTF official micro poster
In terms of points, Ma Long occupies the third position in the world men's singles with 4,685 points, second only to Wang Chuqin (8,625 points) and Fan Zhendong (5,228 points), and more than 400 points more than Liang Jingkun (4,280 points) in fourth place. So. Ma Long is the third player in the men's team, and Liang Jingkun holds a P card, which is reasonable in terms of points and the rules of the Chinese Table Tennis Association's selection of the Paris Olympics.
Judging from Ma Long's performance, in the last Tokyo Olympics, Fan Zhendong's trend of winning the championship was actually very obvious, but Ma Long still stubbornly won the gold medal and became the first player in the history of the Olympic Games to defend the table tennis men's singles championship, and also became the first player in the table tennis world to achieve the men's singles double circle Grand Slam.
After the Paris Olympics, Ma Long gradually handed over the banner of "National Table Tennis Men's One", but still won the Asian Championships, the men's singles championship of the Macau Table Tennis World Cup, and the men's doubles and men's team championships in many important events.
In a word, in terms of competitive strength, Ma Long still has a world-class level.
In the words of Wang Hao, head coach of the national table tennis men's team: "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." ”
glory
Playing in Paris is already Malone's fourth Olympic trip, and if it is not so strict, it is the fifth.
Born in 1988, Ma Long's playing career began at the age of 5, when he practiced table tennis in Anshan, Liaoning. Because there were too many children practicing table tennis in Anshan, Ma Long was almost eliminated, but fortunately he was discovered by coach Guan Huaan in 2001 and brought to Beijing to continue studying. In 2003, at the age of 15, Malone entered the national team.
In 2008, the local Beijing Olympics, the national table tennis men's team was still Wang Hao, Wang Liqin, and Ma Lin's "Wang Ma Era", and the substitute athlete was Chen Xi from Jiangsu. Ma Long, who was not yet 20 years old at the time, became the sparring partner of the Chinese men's table tennis and "participated" in an Olympic Games in Beijing.
Four years later, in London, Ma Long finally formed the national table tennis men's team with Zhang Jike and Wang Hao as an official team member, defeated South Korea in the final, and won the first Olympic gold medal in his life. Although the men's singles at that time still belonged to the era of Wang Hao and Zhang Jike, Ma Long obviously showed signs of emergence.
Won the men's singles championship at the Tokyo Olympics, and Ma Long completed the double-lap Grand Slam Picture source: Xinhua News Agency
For an athlete, the singles championship is always the highest honor. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Wang Hao has retired, and the national table tennis has also ushered in a new era with Ma Long as the captain. Ma Long not only became one of the players representing the national table tennis in the men's singles, but also the leader of this men's team. In this Olympic Games, Ma Long swept Zhang Jike 4:0 in the final to win his first Olympic singles gold medal, and also completed the first table tennis Grand Slam in his life, and led the men's team to defend the Olympic championship.
Won two gold medals in one Olympics. Miraculously, such a story has been played out again in Tokyo.
Ma Long's heart after winning the Tokyo Olympics Picture source: Xinhua News Agency
In the Tokyo Olympics, the number one place in the Chinese men's singles has actually been handed over to the "little fat" Fan Zhendong, and the two also "got their wish" to the table tennis men's singles final of the Tokyo Olympics. Although the balance of victory tilted in favor of the younger Fan Zhendong, the veteran Ma Long still defended the men's singles championship with the strength and more experience of his opponent, becoming the first player to defend the Olympic men's singles title, and achieved the second Grand Slam of his career, leading the men's team to win the gold medal again.
With three Olympic Games and five gold medals, it is no wonder that Ma Long went to Paris this time, and even the International Olympic Committee sent a "congratulatory message" - they published an article entitled "Ma Long selected for the Chinese men's team list for the 2024 Paris Olympics" on their official website, saying that "Ma Long is the most successful player in the history of the Olympic table tennis competition" and said that "this legendary star has the opportunity to continue his Olympic record".
love
is about to turn 36 years old, and in China's most fierce table tennis circle, only Ma Long can still break through.
At 36 years old, he is considered an advanced age in any sport. In the most competitive "national ball", due to the strong reserve force, it is even more difficult for the 36-year-old to stay in the national team as the main force.
Looking closer, Zhang Jike, who was born in the same year as Ma Long, did not train systematically as early as 2019, and was no longer on the national team list during the Tokyo Olympics. Xu Xin, who grew up with Ma Long, also faded out of the national team as early as after the Tokyo Olympics. Wang Hao, the "previous generation", announced his retirement at the age of 31; Ma Lin retired at the age of 33. Wang Liqin has a relatively long sports career, but he also announced his retirement at the age of 36.
Ma Long, who has always adhered to it, stems from "love".
Malone
Ma Long has faced the topic of retirement - "The most precious time in my life is spent in national table tennis, it is not easy for so many years, I am very lucky and cherish every day now, cherish every game in my career." ”
Otherwise, it's hard to imagine what a person who has won all the honors in table tennis, and has won them twice, is still training, improving, and fighting against age day after day.
Malone once said that records or something are left for the outside world to talk about, and he just wants to play.
Before the Paris Olympics, Malone was asked countless times if he would go to Paris and how he would prepare for the Paris Olympics. For him, who is about to turn 36, "It's a long process, and you need to do a good job every day by yourself, and when the real Olympics come, you will rely on the results of your previous training and competitions." ”
Off the field, Ma Long hardly has any "scandals", and his only public personal life is the announcement of his relationship with his girlfriend Xia Lu after the Rio Olympics, and the marriage certificate the following year and the promotion to "daddy". is different from Zhang Jike's "Zhang Yang" and Xu Xin's "funny", Ma Long has always been a "good dragon" in the national table tennis team.
This is the simplest and most down-to-earth Ma Long, and perhaps the reason why he has gone the farthest and stood tallest.
In four Olympic games, the Dragons are close to their sixth Olympic gold medal. As for the future, leave it to Ma Long, who is still a "teenager" in table tennis, to think about it carefully.
Modern Express/Hyundai+ reporter Wang Wei