Happy birthday to 36-year-old Marlon!
October 20th is Ma Long's birthday, at 8 o'clock in the morning, the World Table Tennis Federation sent blessings to the Dragon team on the official account, and the small words are very hard: "The glory of the double Grand Slam, countless championship trophies, you use your actions to interpret 'love has no ceiling'"
The World Table Tennis Federation also hopes that the Dragons can continue to write a legendary life on and off the court. At the same time, Ma Long was given the highest evaluation: "Table tennis GOAT"
In the blink of an eye, the former Anshan pony has become the dragon team of national table tennis.
How to sum up Malone's unfinished career? I want to paraphrase a classic line on the Internet: The Dragon Team is the highest mountain and the longest river in the national table tennis and even the world table tennis.
Ma Long, the only double-lap Grand Slam winner of the national table tennis men's team, is also the first super golden slam champion who combines the Olympic Games, World Cup, World Championships, Asian Championships, Asian Games, Asian Cup, National Games, and Finals.
Ma Long entered the national team at the age of 15 and won his first World Cup singles title at the age of 24. So far in his career, he has won 31 world championships, including 6 Olympic gold medals, 14 World Table Tennis Championships, and 11 World Cup championships.
And even now, the 36-year-old Ma Long is still at his peak, and he won a singles runner-up in a Grand Slam not long ago. The Japanese media, which has always been picky, also made a radar map of Ma Long's various abilities, and found that every skill of the dragon team was full level without any shortcomings, and the reputation of the hexagonal warrior resounded all over the rivers and lakes.
His mentor Liu Guoliang once said that Ma Long's style of play is as upright as his character, and he is also the hardest working tactician in national table tennis.
When it comes to Liu Guoliang, we can't fail to mention the national table tennis withdrawal turmoil that year, because of the personnel changes in national table tennis, Ma Long and several athletes and coaches collectively posted on social platforms and supported Liu Guoliang by withdrawing from the competition. At that time, Malone was already a Grand Slam winner, had just won the double Olympic title a year ago, and at the height of his prime, he still had to do it at the risk of losing his career and personal future.
Even if this method is controversial, I have to admit that the Dragons are really righteous.
After the Tokyo Olympics, the Dragons have completed the double Grand Slam, and he can retire at this time to enjoy the flowers and applause. But at that time, the national table tennis was in a turbulent period of alternating between the old and the new, and the results were not very stable, so Ma Long resolutely stayed and helped the national table tennis avoid the crisis.
But Ma Long also paid a more painful price for this, as he grew older, Ma Long's competitive level declined, and occasionally in the game, he would be defeated by individual foreign association players, if it was placed in the past, the Dragon team would not even glance at them, and even Mizutani Falcon dared to ridicule Ma Long in the show as the weakest link in the main force of national table tennis.
In the eyes of some fans, whether Malone wins or loses, he is blocking the young position. Ma Long even doubted himself after losing to Lee Sang-so at the World Table Tennis Championships in Busan.
But in the end, Ma Long still carried it, not only won the most difficult World Cup singles championship in history in April, but also helped the national table tennis successfully defend the men's team gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
In the Paris Olympic cycle, many masters have emerged from the male players of the Foreign Association, all of whom have the ability to challenge the national table tennis, but there is a combination of Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin, which makes them return again and again in the competition.
This is the role of Ma Long, the old partner Xu Xin said that Ma Long used to be the No. 1 main force, but now he has changed to No. 3, and the foreign association looks at the list of national table tennis appearances, and before he has played the game, he will be numb first. Malone's deterrent power is too great.
Ma Long's merit also lies in the fact that he single-handedly changed the career planning of national table tennis players, and many former national table tennis players basically retired at the age of twenty-seven or eighteen, and they lost their heart. Some of them took the initiative to retreat, and some of them are hard to say. Then a group of new people emerge to cultivate.
Everyone seems to have come over like this, but Ma Long's persistence has made more people see a reality, the career of a national table tennis player can reach 36 years old, or even higher. Although everyone thinks that their talent is not necessarily as high as that of the Dragons, it is always okay to give it a try.
So you look at the current national table tennis, 28-year-old Liang Jingkun and 29-year-old Lin Gaoyuan, are still persisting and still retain the dream of hitting the Olympic ticket.
I think this is the power of role models, and it is also the greatest wealth that the Dragons have brought to national table tennis at the end of their careers.
Of course, the 36-year-old Dragon team is still in its prime, and with his strength, even if he returns to national table tennis, he is still the undisputed main force.
Otherwise, Dragons, you can come back and try it.