On the 7th, the International Table Tennis Federation announced the list of candidates for the Executive Committee of the International Table Tennis Federation, and Liu Guoliang, chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, will run for the position of executive vice chairman of the International Table Tennis Federation. On November 24 this year, ITTF members will vote at the ITTF Annual Congress in Houston, USA.
According to reports, Liu Guoliang had the opportunity to run for the presidency of the International Table Tennis Federation. However, due to the very complicated and cumbersome preparations required for the election of the ITTF president, and this preparatory process coincided with the time when the Chinese table tennis team was preparing for the Tokyo Olympic Games, Liu Guoliang chose to devote all his energy to the preparation of the Chinese team. The candidate for the ITTF presidency is Petra Solin, the current Executive Vice-President of the ITTF Finance and President of the Swedish Table Tennis Association.
For Liu Guoliang's failure to run for the chairmanship of the ITTF, ITTF Group CEO Steve Denton said it was a pity, "I really admire Liu (Guoliang)'s attitude, this campaign is actually the best opportunity for him, and he will also do his job as the best candidate." But he decided to devote all his energy to preparing for the Tokyo Olympics first, which was his most important job as president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association. ”
Perhaps because the Chinese table tennis team is indeed too strong, so in line with the principle of "people who drink porridge do not distinguish between porridge", Chinese has always been subordinate to the position of chairman. But from 1994 to 1995, the ITTF experienced a major shock. In December 1994, the third president of the ITTF, the Japanese Itachiro Hagimura, died of illness, and in October 1995, the fourth president of the ITTF, Swede Loro Hamalund, died of illness. In the unfortunate death of two consecutive presidents in office, Xu Yinsheng was in danger. At that time, from the perspective of table tennis prestige, seniority, age and other aspects, Xu Yinsheng was the most suitable candidate, he was naturally elected as the fifth president of the ITTF, and he was also the only Chinese president in the history of the ITTF so far. In 1999, Xu Yinsheng voluntarily gave up his re-election as president of the International Table Tennis Federation.
Only reform and innovation can continue to develop. Xu Yinsheng's reforms after taking office withstood the pressure of public opinion accused of "elbowing outwards."
Xu Yinsheng, honorary life president of the INTERNATIONAL Table Tennis Federation
Due to the fast speed of table tennis and strong rotation, the audience can not see clearly, affecting the ornamentation, Xu Yinsheng proposed to change the table tennis to larger. He once said in an interview with the Shangguan News reporter, "At that time, I found the red double happiness, made the ball to give to the associations, and also held a competition to invite foreign players to participate, the speed was slower and the rotation was weaker, and the ornamentation was improved." However, the equipment manufacturers are opposed, the cost of changing the production line is higher, and a lot of work has been done to postpone the implementation. ”
Eventually, the reforms that were implemented were officially completed during the term of Xu Yinsheng's successor, Sharala. Xu Yinsheng believes that "this is for the competitiveness of table tennis, in order to avoid the International Table Tennis Federation being kicked out in the competition of the individual associations of the International Olympic Committee." This kind of reform is needed, and the Chinese team may not approve of it, but the effect is still good in the long run. ”
Xu Yinsheng and Liu Guoliang are in different eras, if Xu Yinsheng was following the trend in those years, then Liu Guoliang is taking the initiative today.
In 2020, Liu Guoliang served as the chairman of the Board of Directors of the World Major League table tennis professional federation (WTT), leading the world table tennis world into an era of professional reform and innovation. The International Table Tennis Federation finally figured it out, no longer just thinking about how to limit the dominance of Chinese table tennis, but working with the Chinese Table Tennis Association to use the influence of Chinese table tennis to seek a win-win situation.
In the background of that time, the epidemic brought all competitions in the international table tennis world to a halt, and the International Table Tennis Federation thought about changes in the pain of the pain, put WTT's bold ideas into action, and actively embraced change with drastic self-reform. The choice of Liu Guoliang as the head of WTT is also expected.
Liu Guoliang believes that players are the real productivity, and it is necessary to cultivate more champions through the WTT platform, create more stars, output more wonderful games, and let stars and fans have more close contact. "These are challenges beyond the gold medal, but it is precisely because of such opportunities and platforms that the sport can be pushed to the top."
Liu Guoliang's idea is very similar to the NBA's star-making program. Star-making is a series of initiatives created by the NBA in order to increase its own commercial value, by increasing the exposure of some players with superior ability, rendering their professional experience, and then playing a role in marketing the NBA.
In the early 1980s, the NBA suffered a cold wave in the United States, and the ratings fell sharply while the income also fell sharply, and even the finals of the matchups with legends such as Abdul-Jabbar, Irving, and Johnson were put on after 11 p.m. After Stern took over as president of the NBA in 1984, he began a vigorous star-making campaign. Among them, Michael Jordan is the most classic case.
From athletes to coaches, Liu Guoliang (second from right) has achieved outstanding results
Today, the world's table tennis needs China, and China also needs the world, which is mutual help and mutual promotion. China has the largest number of champions, stars and fans, but it needs to show itself on the world stage and a better platform. Liu Guoliang is not only in China, but also in the world table tennis is a very influential figure, the International Table Tennis Federation hopes that he can use his influence and appeal to promote table tennis in the world, so that more young people like, show the power of sports.
At the end of October 2020, the Chinese Table Tennis Association, headed by Liu Guoliang, worked closely with the International Table Tennis Federation to successfully hold the "Restart Event Series" in China, including the Men's and Women's World Cup and the ITTF Finals, which set a template for the restart of the world sports in the epidemic. Subsequently, the first WTT event was held in Macao, China, the World United team was invited to participate in the Chinese Table Tennis Super League, and the Chinese team members were closed training together, which was China's responsibility and responsibility for promoting the development of the world table tennis arena as a member of the strongest association of the International Table Tennis Federation.
During the epidemic last year, under the leadership of Liu Guoliang, international table tennis events resumed in China
WTT's future influence can be like the NBA, people naturally pin their hopes on Liu Guoliang's body, hoping that he can lead the table tennis project out of a new development path.
In the next few years, Liu Guoliang will serve as a member of the Executive Committee of the ITTF and participate in the work of the decision-making level of the ITTF. He himself hopes to be able to further familiarize himself with and study the platform system of the International Table Tennis Federation, understand the current situation of various member associations, and think more deeply about the future of table tennis from the perspective of the development of the entire world table tennis world.
For the next ITTF presidency election, Liu Guoliang will have more time to prepare, and have more confidence and grasp.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Chen Hua Text Editor: Qin Dongying Caption Source: Xinhua News Agency
Source: Author: Qin Dongying