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Since table tennis was introduced to the Olympics in 1988, the popularity of the sport has "gone to the next level".
Every time I talk about table tennis, everyone nods their heads frequently and praises the extraordinary strength of the athletes.
And among so many masters, if there are two particularly powerful athletes who play together and win championships together, they will be affectionately called "twin stars" by everyone.
So in the history of Chinese women's table tennis, what are the "twin stars"?
The source of this article comes from the authoritative reports [Henan Provincial People's Government Network], [Shangguan News], [Sina.com], [Surging News, Surging News, Government Affairs], [China.com News] (detailed sources are attached at the end of the article). In order to improve the readability of the article, there may be polishing of the details, please read sensibly, for reference only!
1. Wang Nan and Zhang Yining
Wang Nan is older than Zhang Yining, and the time difference between the two in the national team is as long as three years.
Wang Nan was very strong, but the women's table tennis at that time was still the world of "Deng Yaping", until the 1997 World Championships, Deng Yaping perfectly led the team to win the women's team championship, and then retired.
At that World Championships, Wang Nan also participated in it and won the women's singles runner-up.
Zhang Yining entered the national team in 1996 and did not participate in the World Table Tennis Championships until 1999, when she was just an adult.
In this World Table Tennis Championships, Zhang Yining "swept" her opponent all the way with super strength and successfully reached the women's singles final, but unfortunately, her opponent in the final that year was Wang Nan.
For the country and their head coach, it doesn't matter who they win, after all, they are all members of the Chinese team, but despite this, everyone sweated for that game.
At the beginning of the game, Zhang Yining was full of firepower and quickly took a 2-0 lead, for Wang Nan, the pressure was very high, and everyone thought that Zhang Yining would go all the way to the championship.
But Wang Nan, a veteran, should not be underestimated, as the game continued, she relied on her rich experience to pull the score back, and finally succeeded in counterattacking with a score of 3-2, staging a wonderful "return of the king"!
With the beginning of this game, the competition between Zhang Yining and Wang Nan has never stopped, but in the 2001 World Table Tennis Championships and the 2003 World Table Tennis Championships, Zhang Yining lost to Wang Nan in every game, which is a pity.
Until the opening of the Athens Olympics in 2004, no one expected that Wang Nan would be out of the tournament in advance, but Zhang Yining maintained stable strength and finally won the women's singles championship, and the following year at the World Table Tennis Championships, she won the Grand Slam in one fell swoop.
Of course, the competition between Zhang Yining and Wang Nan has not stopped, in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Zhang Yining defeated Wang Nan to win the championship, Wang Nan retired, and Zhang Yining continued to move forward, in the following year at the World Table Tennis Championships, won the championship again, and retired in 2011.
Although they are evenly matched opponents in the ring, in private, they are good friends who talk about everything.
Wang Nan is Zhang Yining's sister, and she will always provide her with a lot of help on weekdays, not only in training, but also in life, it is understood that the coach also assigned them to a dormitory for convenience, so they are still roommates.
Although there is no news on the Internet that they are in the same frame recently, the two of them are currently living their own little lives after retiring.
On May 12, 2024, there was a launching ceremony of a table tennis competition in Xujiahui Sports Park, and Zhang Yining participated in it.
Not only that, Zhang Yining also talked about his outlook for the Paris Olympics in an interview with Oriental Sports Daily and sent blessings to the Chinese team.
And Wang Nan opened a company with her husband after retiring, involving all walks of life, but in February 2024, the news that he was restricted from consumption was spread on the Internet, but he himself said in the live broadcast that he was designed, as for the truth, I believe that the law is free to decide.
Second, Deng Yaping and Qiao Hong
Deng Yaping is the "king" of table tennis and has created an era that belongs to her.
And Qiao Hong is also a powerful player, before Deng Yaping emerged, she already held the honor of the World Table Tennis Championships.
But since Deng Yaping appeared, Qiao Hong has always been "a little bit off the fire".
In the 1992 Olympic Games, although Qiao Hong broke into the finals, she still failed to "counterattack" successfully, and was covered by Deng Yaping's edge and ranked second.
Since then, Chinese women's table tennis has officially entered the "Deng Yaping era", although Qiao Hong has good strength, she can only sigh "both Shengyu and He Shengliang"!
However, Qiao Hong's life is also interesting now, and on May 10, 2024, she also participated in the "Chinese Celebrity Fishing Club Public Lure Friendship Competition" with a group of celebrities.
In the ITTF Women's World Cup final in April 2024 and the WTT Saudi Grand Slam in May 2024, Deng Yaping commented on Wang Manyu's performance in the live broadcast room.
It is worth mentioning that although Deng Yaping is concerned about table tennis, she has not neglected her son's education, and his son has now become a table tennis player, and at the 2020 Beijing Youth Table Tennis Championships, her son also won the men's Group C singles championship, which can be said to be a promising future.
Three: Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen
Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen are not much different in age, they are comrades-in-arms who joined the team in the same year, and the two have one thing in common, they both chose to leave their hometown and chase the dream of table tennis.
Not only that, but in the national team, a place where the dragon is crouching and the tiger is like a cloud, the two of them successfully stood out with their outstanding performance and became the key training objects.
In 2009, Liu Shiwen, who had just come of age, also won the women's singles World Cup championship in one fell swoop.
But because of the "wrong" decision of coach Shi Zhihao, the women's table tennis failed to win the championship at the 2010 Moscow World Table Tennis Championships, and she was once burdened with public opinion.
Although Ding Ning occasionally has a little episode, she won the singles championship of the 2011 World Cup and World Championships.
Until 2015, Liu Shiwen passed the negative period, participated in the 2015 Suzhou World Table Tennis Championships, and entered the finals, but the problem is that she happened to meet Ding Ning.
At that time, there were a series of situations, but in the end, Ding Ning won the final victory and won the championship at the 2016 Rio Olympics, followed by the 2017 World Table Tennis Championships Ding Ning chased after the victory and won the championship for the second time.
And Liu Shiwen has been in poor condition during this period, and it was not until 2019 that she adjusted and won the women's singles championship at the World Championships.
However, at the Tokyo Olympics, Liu Shiwen failed to get a singles quota place, and lost to Japan in the mixed doubles event, until she officially announced her retirement in August 2023.
But the public opinion about Liu Shiwen has not stopped, just in the CBA game in May 2024, Liu Shiwen was discussed by the fans of the Liaoning team for supporting the Guangdong team, but this is all a matter of personal preference, it can only be said that Liu Shiwen is too innocent.
After Ding Ning retired, he was still engaged in sports work, and also served as a "teacher of the Physical Education Teaching and Research Department of Peking University".
Fourth, Zhang Li, Ge Xinai
Zhang Li, a table tennis genius in Xinxiang, Henan, has set countless records, and was the pillar of Chinese women's table tennis in the 70s, holding 26 world championships, and is known as the "big devil" of table tennis by the outside world.
And Ge Xinai, also from Henan, is known as the "Strange Hero of Table Tennis", created the "straight shot and horizontal play" technology, and won the brilliant achievement of "three crowns and one runner-up" at the 1979 World Table Tennis Championships.
In 1975, at the women's team finals of the World Table Tennis Championships, Zhang Li and Ge Xinai were full of firepower, helping the Chinese women's table tennis team to counterattack the South Korean team 3:2, making the Babylon Cup return to the embrace of China, and the whole country was in an uproar for a while.
The two "Henan Twin Stars" have left a strong mark in the table tennis world, and Ge Xinai was named the "Top Ten Female Athletes of the Century" in Henan Sports in 2011.
It is a pity that Zhang Li died of illness in 2019, and Ge Xinai's family went to live in the United States and faded out of the circle since then.
summary
The "twin stars" of Chinese women's table tennis actually include Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Chen Meng, Zhu Yuling, Li Xiaoxia and Guo Yue, who also have beautiful achievements in the field of table tennis and have contributed their own strength to the glory of Chinese women's table tennis.
Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu, as the "twin stars" of the new era, have frequently won championships in international competitions in recent years, and their results are very good, becoming the new leaders of Chinese women's table tennis.
Chen Meng and Zhu Yuling are the leaders of the older generation, and they have tacitly cooperated on the court and won many honors for Chinese women's table tennis.
Li Xiaoxia and Guo Yue are the "twin stars" of the earlier batch, they showed outstanding table tennis talent in the early 2000s, their distinctive technical characteristics, proper use of tactics, two important players in the history of Chinese women's table tennis can not be ignored.
These "twin stars" not only have excellent individual strength, but also play an important role in the team, their existence allows the Chinese women's table tennis to always maintain a leading position in the international table tennis arena, and also look forward to the emergence of more "twin stars" in the national team in the future!
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The content information in this article comes from: Henan Provincial People's Government Network, Shangguan News, Sina.com, The Paper, The Paper, Government Affairs, and China.com News