A few days ago, Zhang Yining, a senior in the table tennis world, said when looking forward to this year's Paris Olympics that the national table tennis championship in singles is very stable. It's just that there will be a certain amount of suspense in the women's team competition in the Olympic Games, in fact, this suspense has been experienced twice at the Busan Team World Table Tennis Championships in February this year. Once was a narrow 3-2 defeat by the Indian women's team in the group stage, and the other was a narrow defeat to the Japanese women's team in the final.
The main players of the national table tennis in these two women's team competitions were defeated by competitors, and it was precisely because of the instability of the Busan Team World Table Tennis Championships that the national table tennis subsequently changed the Olympic selection rules. Because according to the original Olympic selection rules, players can participate in the singles competition of the Olympic Games if they meet the required points.
Before the national table tennis did not consider the factor of foreign wars, after the women's team finals of the Busan Group World Table Tennis Championships, the test criteria for foreign wars were added. Originally, Wang Yidi was expected to compete for the singles quota in the Olympic Games, but the strength of Miyu Hirano at the Busan Team World Table Tennis Championships was too strong, and her extraordinary performance made the national table tennis coaching staff have to change the quota for the Olympic Games.
Now Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng, and Wang Manyu are participating in the Olympic team competition, and in the eyes of fans, this is already the strongest lineup in national table tennis. What fans don't understand is why Zhang Yining thinks that there is suspense in the team competition? If there is suspense in the team competition, then why is there no suspense in the singles competition?
If the lineup is inconsistent, it will definitely be in the singles lineup rather than the team event. Since Zhang Yining believes that the singles of national table tennis has the strength to win the championship, the team competition will definitely be more stable. In the minds of fans, singles matches are more challenging, and winning the championship is much more difficult than team events.
In fact, the reason why I think that there is suspense in the team competition is that there are comprehensive factors. The first point is that the team competition system is a best-of-five system, which tests the player's ability to seize opportunities and enter the state. The players of the Japanese table tennis women's team have good skills in the first three boards and are more suitable for best-of-five games, while the national table tennis players have basic skills and are more suitable for late strikes.
The first three boards of Japanese table tennis players can indeed score quickly in a short period of time, and if they win the first game, players like Miu Hirano and Miwa Zhang can quickly win the second game with strong impact. If the national table tennis player can't find a way to limit the second game, he will be very passive in the third game if he can't win the second game.
In particular, Miu Hirano is very good at playing tailwind, and the Busan Team World Table Tennis Championships is because of the confidence that has increased greatly after winning the first game, so that she has played better and better in the next two games. Of course, it also had a lot to do with teammate Hina Hayata's equalizer on aggregate, which gave Miu Hirano a great self-confidence.
Therefore, the short format of the team competition is more conducive to the performance of Japanese table tennis players, and whichever player enters the state faster, which player can win. The second factor is the head coach's arrangement, because the gap between the strength of the Japanese women's team and the national table tennis women's team is very small. Head coach Ma Lin let Chen Meng, who was ranked third at the time, play in the second singles at the Busan Team World Table Tennis Championships, which was indeed a risky move.
Although Chen Meng won all the battles against Hina Hayata, it was still quite thrilling from the perspective of the game process. In the women's team final of the Olympic Games, since the first set was doubles, Wang Manyu and Chen Meng must have played. Their competitors were Mimi Zhang and Miu Hirano, and the match was a four-six-round match.
This is more a test of Chen Meng's ability to receive serve and connect, because the Japanese women's team has a faster connection speed, if you can't keep up with the opponent's offensive rhythm, if you are dragged into the deciding set by the opponent, the result of the game is really unpredictable. In the offensive link, the strength of the two pairs is five or five, so the first set of the women's doubles match is still more suspenseful.
If the Japanese table tennis pair wins the first set, Hina Hayada will play the first singles match against Sun Yingsha will be more suspenseful. Because Hina Hayata's impact on Sun Yingsha is increasing day by day, this kind of best-of-five game is dragged into the tiebreaker Sun Yingsha has a slight advantage, after all, her adaptability is stronger.
If the second set is also won by a Japanese table tennis player, then in the next three sets of singles matches, the national table tennis must maintain a full victory to reverse the opponent. Which players to play is particularly crucial, not to mention the coach's on-the-spot tactical command ability, which will also become a key factor in determining the direction of victory or defeat.
If the third set is Zhang Benmei and Chen Meng, then the game will still be very intense. Although Zhang Benmeihe has not yet defeated Chen Meng, if the Japanese table tennis leads by a big score of 2-0, it will definitely increase Zhang Benmeihe's confidence to fight, so who will play in the third set will test the determination of the coaching staff.
If the Japanese table tennis is 0-2 behind, the head coach Ma Lin will definitely let Chen Meng play in the third set. Because if he doesn't play again, he may not have a chance, and if Chen Meng wins the third set, then he will score two points in the team competition. Chen Meng's performance in the women's team final is the best one, which is also what head coach Ma Lin wants to see.
Wang Manyu has no problem playing against any of the main players in Japanese table tennis, because Wang Manyu's backhand spin is the most restrained in the speed of the main players in Japanese table tennis. Of course, the national table tennis coaching staff hopes to sweep the Japanese women's team 3-0, and the Busan Team World Table Tennis Championships is arranged according to this idea. From a technical point of view, as long as Japanese table tennis players resist Chen Meng's attack with the ball, they will have a certain chance of upset.
The Japanese women's team does not have the upper hand over the Warring States Table Tennis Women's Team, but they do have the strength to win one or two sets. Sun Yingsha will definitely play two sets in a row in the first singles, and Chen Meng may also play two sets in a row. Therefore, the play of these two people is particularly crucial, and there is a high probability that Sun Yingsha will play in the deciding set.