On 5 April 1959, a thrilling table tennis tournament was held in Dortmund, Federal Republic of Germany.
At one end of the ping-pong table stands the 37-year-old Hungarian veteran Sido. The steel mill worker who grew up under Nazi oppression has a strong physique and a fearsome field strength, he is the last player in history to use a granular rubber racket to reach the top of the men's singles championship, has won nine championships, his chipping and backhand skills are particularly strong, known as the magic master, is the world table tennis championships deserved to win the title.
And his opponent can be described as anonymous. The 21-year-old Rong Guotuan is yellow-skinned and skinny, with two legs like slender "sheep's foot bones", and he likes to wear long pants to wrap his legs up. He once suffered from severe tuberculosis, just recently injured, international event experience is quite insufficient, but he has amazing court wisdom and superb skills, Rong Guotuan's court style can be described as "fast and accurate change", this kind of rapid punch as the main means of scoring has made him a dark horse of this tournament, but also let him all the way to the stage of the final.
His three teammates did not reach the final, and all their hopes were pinned on him, including Zhou Enlai, He Long and others on the other side of the world. Premier Zhou Enlai called every night to personally inquire about the competition, and the new Chinese men's singles reached the final four for the first time in this competition, and Marshal He Long sent a congratulatory telegram to show encouragement.
On one side are the young players of the rising People's Republic, while on the other side are the most representative veterans of the Hungarian team in this era, who have ruled the table tennis arena for twenty years.
New and old, East and West, at opposite ends of the ping-pong table, two eras duel here.
19：21！
21：12！
21：5！
21：14！
Rong Guotuan took advantage of the "small road ball" technology, the veteran who played was caught off guard and breathless, and in the end, Rong Guotuan defeated the famous Xi duo with a score of 3:1! A five-star red flag was raised in the Westdale Stadium in Dortmund and the "Volunteer March" sounded!
New China gave birth to the first world champion in history!
The Western media were shocked by this, they described Rong Guotuan as "the Sphinx of Dortmund", in the context of the Cold War, they were shocked that the new People's Republic could give birth to such a world champion, so they put a hat with fear and mystery on Rong Guotuan.
In China, Rong Guotuan has become a national hero! When he returned to China, Vice Premier He Long even came to the airport to send flowers for him, Zhou Enlai listed Rong Guotuan's victory and the Tenth National Day as two happy events in 1959, named China's self-produced table tennis brand "Red Double Happiness", and Rong Guotuan became a regular guest at the state banquet, and was received by Chairman Mao many times. "People's Daily" publicized the deeds of Rong Guotuan to the streets and alleys of the country, making him a representative figure of Chinese table tennis at once. After Rong Guotuan won the championship, table tennis gradually became China's national ball!
However, Rong Guotuan's life is not only this victory. His life is too wonderful, and he has made great contributions to the sports cause of New China, and today we will enter the life of this sage.
In August 1937, Rong Guotuan was born into an extremely poor family in Hong Kong, with his ancestral home in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province. His father was an ordinary fisherman (later a seafarer). After his father lost his job, the 13-year-old Rong Guotuan was forced to quit school to become a child laborer, due to the harsh working environment and huge labor pressure, the young Rong Guotuan suffered from tuberculosis and fell in a nursing home for several months, which was the main reason for Rong Guotuan's thin body.
At the age of 16, he saw an exhibition on table tennis on the street and began his table tennis career. Not long after school, the well-meaning members of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (pro-Communist) arranged for Yung Guo Tuan to manage books at the Recreation Hall and accompany customers to play ball. In this not very decent practice place, Rong Guotuan actually developed a set of "Nine Yang Divine Skills": the straight shot fast attack method.
Friends who are familiar with table tennis know that the famous "fat man who doesn't understand the ball" and the current chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, Liu Guoliang, is using the straight-shot fast attack method, which has become the symbol of Chinese table tennis! However, what most people don't know is that this style of play was figured out by Rong Guotuan in the "street".
The famous economist Zhang Wuchang was once a good friend of "A Tuan", and he once recalled that Rong Guotuan was still a beginner in the stadium at that time, and he was also able to teach Rong Guotuan some basic theories of table tennis. But Rong Guotuan's understanding was too high, and with the help of his uncle (an amateur table tennis player) at that time, he soon figured out four methods of direct shooting fast attack: serve, serve, push left, and sweep right, Zhang Wuchang also said: "Rong Guotuan's plan must come down, and the Japanese table tennis kingdom will never return!" "
Rong Guotuan's "small road ball" playing style made him a "street ball king", at the same time he also represented the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions table tennis team to participate in the competition, a year later won the Hong Kong Table Tennis Port Standard Tournament men's singles, men's doubles, men's team three gold medals, 2 years later he defeated the 23rd World Table Tennis Championships "new branch champion" Japan's national player Igakiro Ogimura, since then became famous. However, Rong Guotuan's playing in Hong Kong has encountered great resistance.
At that time, the Hong Kong sports circle was firmly controlled by capital. In 1954, the Hong Kong Table Tennis Port Standard Tournament was launched, and the Hong Kong Table Tennis Federation wanted Rong Guotuan to play match-fixing, which contributed to the South China team winning the championship. Rong Guotuan flatly refused, and then cut off three gold medals, becoming a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the eye of the Hong Kong Table Tennis Federation. In 1956, the Asian Table Tennis Championships were held, and the Hong Kong Table Tennis Federation actually manipulated the participation list, so that The Rong Guotuan lost the opportunity to participate. This is fatal to a professional athlete who values honor! Rong Guotuan couldn't bear it anymore and moved his mind to leave Hong Kong.
Because Rong Guotuan is a member of the proletariat and is close to the pro-CCP Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, he also yearns for the motherland. So he submitted an application to the Guangdong Provincial Sports Committee, requesting to repay the motherland. However, at that time, the Guangdong Sports Committee did not have a direct response, first, because it was afraid that Rong Guotuan had lung disease, and second, it was worried that the system in Hong Kong at that time was different from the republic after all.
In September 1957, Rong Guotuan visited Beijing and Shanghai as a member of the Hong Kong and Macao table tennis team, and he witnessed the grand scene of socialism turning ghosts into people, and he saw the happy smile on the face of the proletariat who was as poor as him, and his yearning for the motherland became even stronger.
At this time, his superb skills were also valued by the central leadership. During the visit, Rong Guotuan participated in the provincial Hong Kong and Macao table tennis players friendly competition, in which he used his own "wild road" to defeat the national champion Wang Chuanyao. He won the applause of Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping, He Long and others who sat at the scene.
He Long, who is also the director of the State Sports Commission, personally ordered the general and wrote an invitation letter to Rong Guotuan. Two months later, Rong Guotuan crossed the Luohu Bridge (now located in Shenzhen) and officially stepped into the land of the motherland, breathing with this great red land and sharing a common destiny. He wrote in his diary for the day: "It was my first day of my new life and my heart was filled with happiness. "
On November 1, 1957, Rong Guotuan received an admission notice from the Guangzhou Institute of Physical Education and officially participated in training in Guangzhou. At that time, his monthly salary was 86.5 yuan, which was equivalent to the level of a seventh-level worker, and the salary received by cadres at the section level was the same.
Due to Rong Guotuan's poor health and tuberculosis, the Guangzhou Sports Institute also stewed a chicken for Rong Guotuan every day to supplement his body, and the training plan was also "reduced". Rong Guotuan's daily training intensity is not high, every morning he can only jog for three or four hundred meters, playing time is only half an hour, can not practice for a long time, only to consolidate the technology. After a few months, Rong Guotuan's body was much stronger, and his lung disease was much better.
In 1958, the whole country was in the midst of a "Great Leap Forward" social atmosphere. At the faith oath meeting in preparation for the 25th World Table Tennis Championships, Rong Guotuan shouted out a loud goal: "Win the men's singles championship of the World Table Tennis Championships within three years!" Rong Guotuan's bold words caused a commotion, and the old table tennis player Zhuang Jiafu said that many players, including him, "felt that this boy was bragging." He is not in good health, the ball is too wild, and he has almost no experience in international competitions, how to win the world championship?
But Rong Guotuan was determined. He wrote well with a brush, once wrote a big slogan, pulled a long banner from the fourth floor to the first floor, and wrote ten big words: "Don't take the world champion to death!" Later, at the preparation meeting, he said: "Life can have several beats, I did not take the world championship in the 25th World Table Tennis Championships!" Rong Guotuan said that he could not win the world championship, it was a death without a blind eye, and after a few years he really won the world championship, and later He Long also said: "The three big balls can't be done, I am dead and blind", which seems to be borrowed from Rong Guotuan's bold words.
In the next training, Rong Guotuan ran 3 kilometers a day, and often played badminton to practice strength, and in the day-to-day training, his teammates found that he was "both ambitious, very hard at training, and very comprehensive in technology", and looked at him with admiration. In 1958, Rong Guotuan represented the Guangdong Provincial Table Tennis Team in the National Table Tennis Championships and won the men's singles championship, was selected as a member of the national training team, and officially represented China in the 25th World Table Tennis Championships.
Rong Guotuan understood that his most serious shortcoming was his lack of experience in international competitions, in fact, almost all Chinese table tennis players at that time were like this, and we lost more and won less in foreign wars. In order to learn new technologies, Rong Guotuan went to Europe to learn from athletes from traditional table tennis powers such as Hungary, the Czech Republic and Germany.
However, in the process of learning, an accident occurred. Rong Guotuan was injured during training with the German team, and he recalled: "I was unlucky, I was suddenly injured before the World Table Tennis Championships. We were training with the German team, and just the night before the Start of the World Table Tennis Championships, we were lifting the table when something suddenly hit my feet and made it impossible for me to walk. I was so disappointed... The doctor stipulated that I could not play for several days, and I went back to the hotel and cried sadly for a long time. "
The World Table Tennis Championships did not wait for anyone, and Rong Guotuan could only drag the injury to the battle. It is also because of the injury that he lost two consecutive games in the team competition, and foreign experts believe that Rong Guotuan lost, mainly because of injuries. But fortunately, the injury is not very serious, and Rong Guotuan's performance in the later men's singles event is very amazing.
His teammate Zhuang Jiafu recalled in his later years: "In the top eight, there are four Chinese athletes, me, Wang Chuanyao, Yang Ruihua and Rong Guotuan. Later, all three of us were eliminated, leaving the RongGuo regiment to fight alone. He met American veteran Miles in the semifinals. In a best-of-five set, he was 0-2 behind and we were all very nervous and thought maybe not. At this time, he suddenly changed his tactics and rubbed with Miles. In the end, the score of 21 points has not yet arrived, Miles took the initiative to shake hands with Rong Guotuan and conceded defeat, and did not fight. "Rong Guotuan's playing style can be described in one word: with brains. Rong Guotuan was so thin and unable to gain an advantage in body, he used his ingenuity and wit with his opponents.
In the final, Rong Guotuan played against Hungarian veteran Sido. Before the game, it was found that the Hungarians had bought flowers and put them aside, so they waited for Sido to win and went up to offer flowers. Unexpectedly, he was beaten by Rong Guotuan's "small road ball", and the last ball was won, Rong Guotuan jumped up with his fist, and the St. Brede Cup, which represented the highest honor of table tennis in the world, was permanently engraved with the name of Chinese. (After the 1980s, this trophy was almost exclusively occupied by Chinese))
This is the first time that an athlete from the People's Republic of China has won a world championship! Rong Guotuan's name resounded throughout the land of China, he himself was repeatedly received by Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, He Long and other people, table tennis was even designated as "national ball", and later there was a nursery rhyme specifically wrote: "Ping-pong is round and round, China has a Rong Guotuan, Rong Guotuan has lung disease, China has a Zhuang Zedong ..." And Rong Guotuan was very popular after returning to China, many girls rushed to show their goodwill, and finally he and Huang Xiuzhen, who was also an athlete, tied the knot.
Due to the good results of Chinese athletes in the World Table Tennis Championships, the World Table Tennis Association decided to hold the 26th World Table Tennis Championships in Beijing. It also became the first world-class event in the history of New China to be held on its own! In order to prepare for this event, China must have its own table tennis sports equipment, Shanghai soon developed a sports equipment that meets the requirements of the World Table Tennis Championships, Zhou Enlai named it "Red Double Happiness", precisely because 1959 coincided with the Tenth National Day and Rong Guotuan won the championship.
The legend of Rong Guotuan is not over, and he will also lead China to face a new opponent: Japan.
In the history of the development of table tennis in the world, the fifties is also the golden age of Japanese table tennis, and the Japanese people are almost a big package for various competitions, for example, in the 25th World Table Tennis Championships, the Japanese team won 6 sports championships, and only Rong Guotuan won a men's singles championship.
But their "dominance of the field" was short-lived, mainly due to the addition of Chinese.
In 1961, the 26th World Table Tennis Championships were held in Beijing as scheduled. The Chinese table tennis boy band and the Japanese table tennis boy band met in the final field, these two countries that once fought in blood on the battlefield still retain their original bloodiness, before the final, Rong Guotuan roared out the famous words that can best represent his spirit of life: "Life can have several beats, at this time do not fight, let alone when!" In the end, the Chinese team defeated the Japanese team 5:3, and Rong Guotuan excitedly threw away the racket and jumped on the field! This is the first time in the history of New China to win the men's team championship of the World Table Tennis Championships!
However, Rong Guotuan regrettably lost in the men's singles event, but the other team members performed very well. Zhuang Zedong won the men's singles title and Qiu Zhonghui won the women's singles title. This time, China is doing the east, and the harvest is very fruitful! Since then, Zhuang Zedong, Qiu Zhonghui and others have long become regulars on the medal table, and Zhuang Zedong has won the men's singles championship for three consecutive years, becoming a legend of a generation. However, the women's team competition and the women's singles were completely destroyed, leaving a lot of regrets for the Chinese team.
Rong Guotuan slowly retreated to the second line to become a coach because of his poor health. After the 27th World Table Tennis Championships, Rong Guotuan served as the head coach of the Chinese women's team, helping the Chinese women's team defeat the Japanese team that won the championship for 6 consecutive times at the 28th World Table Tennis Championships in 1965, winning the women's team championship and winning the Babylon Cup for the first time! Foreign news agencies commented: "Chinese this bold strategy will be passed on as a good story in the world table tennis scene." This victory convincingly saw the rising sun of the new China. In this World Table Tennis Championships, the Chinese team won 5 championships, becoming the first peak in the history of Chinese sports teams, marking that Chinese table tennis has entered the world's advanced ranks.
However, Rong Guotuan, Jiang Yongning and Fu Qifang, three table tennis heroes who returned from Hong Kong, were affected by the turmoil and died in 1968. That year, Rong Guotuan was only 31 years old but chose to commit suicide, while his daughter was only 2 years old, and Chinese table tennis also came to a standstill, and in the 1970 game, the Chinese team was completely destroyed and made international headlines.
In 1985, the State Sports Commission posthumously awarded Rong Guotuan, Jiang Yongning and Fu Qifang the title of "Three Ying", and approved the establishment of the "Three Ying Cup" table tennis competition, which continues to this day.
Rong Guotuan's life was short, but it was also brilliant. He won two world titles and one 3rd place in team and singles, and he led the women's team to win and beat the Japanese and lift the Cup Ofbüllon. Just as the People's Daily gave the same evaluation: "Comrade Rong Guotuan is a good comrade who loves the party and loves socialism... He is a red and professional athlete and coach who grew up under the cultivation of the party, and has made meritorious contributions to climbing the world peak of table tennis sports technology and developing China's sports cause. His old rival, Cido, was more personal: "Only an iron will can withstand a severe test, and the victory of The Rong Guotuan confirms this!" "