The most indispensable thing in China is to play table tennis!
Although this is a sentence in the sketch, there are indeed many talents in the mainland table tennis world.
Kong Linghui is one of them, and he was once known as the "twin stars" of table tennis together with Liu Guoliang.
At the peak of his career, he chose to quit the table tennis world and has disappeared since then.
Kong Linghui, who originally had a bright future, why did he suddenly fall off the altar?
When the truth was exposed, everyone suddenly realized that he was to blame!
The first half of the life of a ping pong genius
Kong Linghui was born in 1975, and his father was a table tennis coach.
Under the influence of his father, Kong Linghui has formed an indissoluble bond with table tennis since he was a child.
When Kong Linghui was 4 years old, his talent was discovered by his father, and as a table tennis coach, his father wanted to carefully cultivate Kong Linghui.
At the age of 6, Kong Linghui officially began to receive systematic table tennis training.
Surprisingly, at this age, Kong Linghui has gradually become sharper and began to find children older than him to learn from him.
Although he was defeated repeatedly at the beginning, Kong Linghui was never discouraged.
Instead, he trains hard like a calf on the tip of a cow's horns, hoping to defeat his opponent one day.
In this way, through training day after day, Kong Linghui quickly learned how to attack and defend, and defeat opponents one by one.
With his high talent and love for table tennis, at the age of 10, he was selected by the Heilongjiang Provincial Youth Table Tennis Team as he wished.
In those days, it was definitely a great joy to be able to enter the provincial team.
Since then, Kong Linghui has started more systematic training in the provincial team.
Kong Linghui's talent and diligence were not disappointed, at the age of 16, he and his classmate Liu Guoliang were favored by table tennis wizard Cai Zhenhua and were recruited into the national first team.
When they first came to the national team, the two relaxed their training, but after Cai Zhenhua's strict education, they quickly adjusted.
In 1993, 16-year-old Kong Linghui represented the country and participated in the table tennis doubles competition of the National Games that year.
Although Kong Linghui was young at that time, he had already seen his edge in table tennis, and finally won the bronze medal with his partner.
This was just the beginning of his illustrious career.
The 17-year-old Kong Linghui won the singles and doubles championships at the World Youth Championships in one fell swoop.
At the Asian Championships in September of the same year, Kong Linghui showed his amazing strength, not only winning the men's singles championship, but also teaming up with Deng Yaping to win the mixed doubles championship.
and helped the national team win the men's team championship and won the triple crown in one go.
In 1995, in the men's singles final, Kong Linghui defeated his best friend Liu Guoliang.
Since then, he has taken the field by storm, winning numerous titles in both national and international competitions.
It wasn't until 2000 that Kong Linghui realized the highest dream of his life, and at the Sydney Olympics, he withstood great pressure and finally defeated the Swedish star to win the men's singles gold medal and complete the unprecedented "Grand Slam" honor.
Source: Ping Pong World
Fall off the altar
Just when Kong Linghui was at the peak of his life, a sudden accident suddenly dragged the superstar off the halo-shrouded altar, making him embarrassed.
In July 2006, Kong Linghui, who had drunk too much, drove a Porsche and ran wildly on the streets.
Eventually, he lost control and collided with a taxi, and also got into an altercation with the driver.
Kong Linghui was placed under administrative detention by the police and fined and had his driver's license suspended.
Source: Nanfang Daily
In this way, he became the first world champion in Chinese table tennis to be detained by law enforcement.
Even though this incident taught Kong Linghui a lesson, he did not correct it.
In 2011, he got into a physical altercation with the building's security guard after drinking too much, and eventually had to pay for the other party's medical bills out of his own pocket before the incident was settled.
Just when people thought that Kong Linghui would definitely repent, in 2017, a more excessive scene was staged again.
Kong Linghui received a summons from the High Court of Hong Kong, accusing him of millions of Hong Kong dollars in gambling debts at a casino in Singapore.
In the face of huge social impact, the Chinese Table Tennis Association had no choice but to temporarily remove Kong Linghui from his position as coach of the national women's team and require him to be fully investigated.
For the once glorious "Prince of Ping Pong", this is undoubtedly the beginning of falling off the altar.
In the face of overwhelming doubts from the outside world, Kong Linghui responded and explained as soon as possible.
The reason why he went to the casino was to accompany his family and friends, and he inadvertently left personal information.
As for the debt issue, it was a complete misunderstanding.
Kong Linghui declared
At this cusp, even if Kong Linghui constantly exonerated himself and tried his best to prove his innocence, the impact was too bad.
As a well-coached national team coach who values his actions more than his words, such an accusation is undoubtedly a blow to him.
At the World Table Tennis Championships in Dusseldorf that year, because of the sudden absence of the head coach, it would more or less have a big impact on the team's preparations.
Whatever the truth, this turmoil has undoubtedly dealt a devastating blow to Kong Linghui's image.
In this way, once it is fluttering, it is difficult to return to the peak.
Kong Linghui's table tennis career was brought to an end by this gambling debt turmoil.
Although it was rumored afterwards that Liu Guoliang had repeatedly invited his old friends to return, Kong Linghui refused them one by one.
Source: China News Network
Life nowadays
After leaving the arena, Kong Linghui turned his attention to the purple sand culture that he had been obsessed with.
Over the years, he has maintained the habit of tasting and collecting purple sand pottery, believing that in the process of viewing artworks, he can achieve the effect of calming the mind.
After retiring, Kong Linghui began to devote himself to studying purple sand and set foot in this industry.
Although he has not lost his former glory, he has now lived a stable and comfortable life.
Although Kong Linghui was lost in the past, he made some regrettable decisions.
But we should not forget that it is this "Prince of Ping Pong" who has won countless honors for the country in the international arena.
His brilliant achievements have made the people of the motherland proud.
Although Kong Linghui eventually left the athlete stage, countless young athletes will learn from his example and find their way forward.
In 2023, Liu Guoliang will be re-elected as the chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association and the first vice president of the International Table Tennis Federation.
Some netizens said that if it weren't for this incident, maybe Kong Linghui would still be shining in the table tennis arena today, and his status would even surpass Liu Guoliang.
What are your thoughts on this?
Source: The Paper
Sources of information:
The Paper