Fans familiar with national table tennis know that in the era of two kings and one horse, Wang Hao, Wang Liqin, and Ma Lin basically won all the table tennis championships in the world, but the three of them created an embarrassing record, that is, none of the three won the "Grand Slam", Wang Hao lacked the Olympic singles gold medal, Wang Liqin lacked the World Cup and the Olympics, and Ma Lin missed the World Table Tennis Championships. Compared with the era of Liu Guoliang and Kong Linghui Twin Stars, the era of Ma Long Zhang Jike, and the era of Wang Nan Zhang Yining, the two kings and one horse do have some regrets.
And this lack of regret under the concern of millions of fans, had to make people have some doubts about a game at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. This is the men's singles semifinals, Wang Hao vs. Wang Liqin. At that time, Marlene lost to Lao Wa in the quarterfinals, so the men's singles final four were Wang Hao vs. Wang Liqin, Liu Chengmin vs. Waldner. Please note that it was Wang Hao vs. Wang Liqin who played first, and Liu Chengmin vs. Lao Wa who played later.
For this game, there are many reasons to insist that Wang Liqin did not give way to the side of the ball (referred to as the square for short). To summarize:
1) Wang Hao is a new generation, Wang Liqin is at the peak, there is no need for the world champion to let a 21-year-old boy.
2) Wang Hao won because his head coach Wu Jingping illegally retained a video of Wang Liqin and studied his teammates in violation of the law.
3) The Chinese table tennis team in the 21st century has long since lost the ball.
But there are also many fans who think that Wang Liqin is definitely a concession, and there are many reasons, which are summarized as follows:
1) Wang Liqin has lost to Liu Chengmin before (although not necessarily touching Liu Chengmin), while Wang Hao has never lost, and it is a seven-game winning streak against Liu Chengmin.
It is also said that Wang Hao has a special upper hand over Korean baseballs and Lao Wa, and is worried that Wang Liqin will lose.
2) Wang Liqin's competition after the Athens Olympic Games, 4:0 clean sheet Wang Hao, is suspected of "out of breath".
Let's start with a review of these claims. The editor's point of view is as follows, Wang Hao and Wang Liqin were no matter who they were at that time, against Liu Chengmin and Waldner, they all had the upper hand. Wu instructed the so-called research video, in fact, there is no special statement, in the Chinese national team, do not study teammates, how do you play the world championship? As for whether there is still a handicap in the 21st century, I can only say "yes", and even in several World Table Tennis Championships, there are cases where non-main forces give way to the main force (those who have the heart can naturally know which sets). But in the quadrennial Olympics, it was all the top players who went up, and I think that since Sydney in 2000, it has basically gone.
However, in the second half of 2020, the party Wang Liqin himself wrote an article about his table tennis experience (included in the "Interview with Shanghai Table Tennis Celebrities" in the "Cradle of National Football"), which has a short paragraph about this matter:
At the Athens Olympics, I lost to Wang Hao in the singles semifinals. I've also heard some talk about it, but in fact, the game wasn't arranged in advance. Wang Hao accidentally lost to South Korea's Yoo Seung-min in the final, losing this gold medal, the overall regret, maybe Yoo Seung-min played better, and there is no direct relationship with my ball. I know Wang Hao better, and the previous matches with him were basically in the upper hand, and the only time was when I lost to him in the warm-up match before the Olympic Games.
As can be seen from the above text, Wang Liqin has explained clearly that he did not concede the ball. Some fans may still think that Wang Liqin is covering up, but a fact is that if the side that lets the ball really give way, it is generally silent, rarely directly telling the facts, and will not write it in black and white. Coupled with the fact that "Wang Dali" students have always been honest and reliable, and their character is excellent, so I think this matter can be concluded in a coffin, in the 2004 Athens Olympic Men's Singles Competition, Wang Liqin and Wang Hao played in the semi-finals, and there is no possibility of giving the ball.
After seeing Wang Liqin's text, what doubts do you have?