On the morning of the 6th, Ding Ning, a famous Chinese table tennis player and Olympic champion, announced his retirement on his personal social media platform.
She wrote in the article: "Starting today, my career as a table tennis player will come to an end, and in the future, I will work hard towards new dreams and challenge new possibilities." ”
Rio Olympic Table Tennis Women's Singles Final, ding Ning finally defeated Li Xiaoxia 4-3 to win the championship. Photographed by Du Yang, a reporter at China News Network
In recent years, Ding Ning has gradually faded out of the table tennis arena due to injuries and other reasons. As the defending champion, she was not present at the Tokyo Olympics. Fans have actually been mentally prepared for Ding Ning's retirement, but this day really came, and they were still reluctant to say goodbye to the "Ning Team".
As Ding Ning wrote in his farewell essay: "Table tennis taught me that whether at the peak or the trough, 'always maintain a brave heart', the road to pursuing dreams is never 'easy', and sportsmanship is far more than winning or losing." ”
The Chinese table tennis team has never lacked champions, but there are sweat and tears behind every seemingly "natural" champion. Ding Ning is like this, under the fame of the Grand Slam, her ping-pong road is not smooth.
setback
Like the beginning of the story of many talented players, Ding Ning showed a strong talent at a very young age and entered the Chinese table tennis team as a king's division. But she did not expect that the setback would come so soon.
In 2010, Ding Ning participated in the Moscow Team World Table Tennis Championships for the first time, and in her words in an interview, "The impression of that year should be gray." ‘’
Ding Ning (left) and Liu Shiwen (right). Image credit: Osports All Sports Photo Agency
The Chinese team composed of Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen and Guo Yan lost to Singapore in the final and lost the opportunity for the women's team to win the world table tennis championships for nine consecutive times. In the first game of the final, Ding Ning was reversed by Feng Tianwei 2:3, while Liu Shiwen lost two points.
Looking back, the impact of this game on Chinese women's table tennis is huge, and Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen, who are still young players, have undergone a lot of public pressure. Even after Liu Shiwen lost the mixed doubles gold medal at this year's Tokyo Olympic Games, many media have repeated the old story to analyze the "butterfly effect" of the game 11 years ago.
After that, in the team stage of the Asian Games and the team stage of the World Cup, Ding Ning did not get the opportunity to play. Born in 1990, she was only in her early 20s, an ordinary person still enjoying a comfortable school time, but Ding Ning came to the key moment that determined the direction of her career.
It's hard to know if she cried alone on a quiet night, but what we can be sure of is that she must be sweating day after day to get out of trouble.
In the fourth round of the women's singles competition of table tennis at the Olympic Games, China's Ding Ning defeated Hong Kong's Du Kaixuan 4-0 to advance to the women's singles quarterfinals. Photo by China News Network reporter Tomita
By gritting his teeth and persevering, Ding Ning regained his competitiveness and entered the singles list of the London Olympic Games. In 2011, she had already won the World Cup and the World Championship, and the Grand Slam looked like she was waiting for her in London, England.
tears
In the women's singles final of table tennis at the London Olympics, Ding Ning was punished by the referee and cried.
With the dream of a Grand Slam, Ding Ning passed the hurdles all the way to the final of the London Olympic Games, and the final opponent was teammate Li Xiaoxia. This was supposed to be the highest level of competition in women's table tennis, but it was disrupted by the referee's decision.
Ding Ning, who was awarded points for serving consecutively, protested to the referee, but was instead warned by a red card. The game with tears in his eyes ended in Ding Ning's defeat.
In the women's singles final of table tennis at the London Olympics, China's Li Xiaoxia defeated teammate Ding Ning to win the gold medal. The picture shows Ding Ning's low mood and tears after being judged to be a serve violation. Photo by reporter Sheng Jiapeng
In fact, in the international competitions since then, there have hardly been any similar almost harsh sentences, but perhaps it is a joke of fate, such a thing happened in a game that was so important to Ding Ning.
For the young Ding Ning, there is still a chance to impact the Grand Slam. But even more terrifying than the loss of the title is the psychological shadow left by this game on her. For some time after that, Ding Ning fell into a low ebb.
Although the setback once made Ding Ning confused, it was precisely because of "always maintaining a brave heart" that temporary difficulties still failed to stop her progress.
After four years, Ding Ning met Li Xiaoxia again in the Olympic final, and she was once behind in the competition, but this time, Ding Ning finally stood on the olympic singles podium in Rio.
After winning the last ball, Ding Ning's tears came out of her eyes, she cried like a child on the field, and at the award ceremony, she picked up the gold medal and smiled like a child. Grand Slam, she finally got it.
The Rio Olympic table tennis women's singles final was held within Chinese athletes, and after seven fierce competitions, Ding Ning finally defeated Li Xiaoxia 4-3 to win the championship. Xinnet reporter Du Yang photographed
People like to put the story of London and Rio together, which seems more inspirational, but often ignores the long 4 years of this period.
In preparation for the Rio Olympics, the head coach Chen Bin wrote an 8-month training diary for Ding Ning, "the difference is only 100,000 words." He said.
The difficulty of these 4 years can be seen.
reshape
In 2017, Ding Ning became the captain of the women's team, and unlike her predecessors such as Wang Nan and Zhang Yining, she did not choose to retire after the Rio Olympics. The young players of the women's team are still young, and in Ding Ning's view, she still has a responsibility as a captain on her shoulders.
But what no one expected was that the rapids ding Ning faced were so "huge". Since 2018, Due to reasons such as changing the ball and injuries, Ding Ning's state has fluctuated. Public opinion can be tolerant of young generals, but it is difficult to tolerate famous generals like her.
After seven rounds of fierce competition, Ding Ning won the championship with a 4-3 victory over Li Xiaoxia in the Rio Olympics table tennis women's singles final.
"You're in such a position, you're going to have to take on these things." Ding Ning once said in an interview.
She said: "My original things are the things that brought me to the top, so I have to change those now, shape a new me, or make a big adjustment." ”
Judging from the results, Ding Ning never returned to the state of his peak. No one can really resist time, Zhu Yan's words are helpless.
But Ding Ning's courage to enter this process of "reshaping" himself is in itself invaluable. Looking back at her growth trajectory, she has long been accustomed to climbing up from the trough in the arena, and is still willing to experience painful changes after the honor and so on, which has surpassed the victory and defeat itself - this is a story of a person who never accepts defeat.
The Tianjin National Games table tennis competition played the women's singles 1/8 final, Beijing team Ding Ning played against Liaoning team Wen Jia, and finally Ding Ning won 4 consecutive sets to win. The picture shows Ding Ning in the game. Photo by China News Service reporter Li Qing
"In these 10 years, I have experienced a lot of things, from a very young player to now fulfilling all my dreams." At the end of last year, when Ding Ning was interviewed, he reviewed his career journey in the first 10 years.
When she experienced setbacks, she also had self-doubts, but she persevered because of her original intention for table tennis, "I don't want to lose this thing." Ding Ning said.
Now, Ding Ning wants to start a new life with such a spirit of not accepting defeat.
Goodbye, 5 years old began to learn to play ball ignorant of you;
Goodbye, 10-year-old you came to Beijing to chase your dreams;
Goodbye, you who won the championship at the Olympic Games and completed the "Grand Slam", and you who served as the standard-bearer of the Chinese delegation at the closing ceremony of the Rio Olympic Games...
Hello, Peking University freshman "Learning Ning".
I wish you all the best you want on this journey and always have a smile on your face.
Source: China News Service