In the second round of the men's singles qualifying round, a 14-year-old youngster who was eliminated from the round of the men's singles tournament attracted a lot of attention, he was a Japanese player with Zhang Benzhi and the nickname of "successor" - Matsushima Huikong.
Although Matsushima Huikong has also had many records of victory over adult players before, it is entirely possible to become a strong opponent of national table tennis in the future, but it is clear that compared with Zhang Benzhihe, who participated in the World Championships at the age of 13 and entered the top 8 of the men's singles, Matsushima Huikong is still too inferior, and is still immature and in the stage of fledgling.
Born in 2007, Matsushima is a full Olympic cycle younger than Tomokazu Jang and is a rising star in Japanese table tennis. And like Zhang Benzhihe, Matsushima Huikong also plays table tennis with the whole family, even more exaggerated:
Four generations of the Matsushima family are engaged in table tennis, Matsushima Huikong's great-grandfather is an athlete, and his maternal grandfather and brothers 5, maternal grandmother, grandparents, aunts, parents and his own brothers and sisters have also embarked on the road of table tennis, although they have not played any decent results, but they are a veritable "table tennis family".
At present, Matsushima Huikong is the most likely athlete in the family to become a first-class master, having previously beaten many athletes older than himself in Japan, and is regarded as a potential main player in the 2024 or 2028 Olympic cycle together with Zhang Benzhihe's sister Zhang Benmei (born in 2008), and the future is very good.
But objectively speaking, these 2 athletes still cannot be compared with Zhang Benzhihe, who have not yet defeated the top players in the real sense of table tennis, and their performance in regular international competitions is difficult to call excellent.
In this Slovenia Challenge, Matsushima Huikong played well in the first round of men's singles, sweeping India's Sriram (ranked 407th in the world) 3-0. However, in the second round of the match, he could not hold out against the Italian veteran Niagher (ranked 103rd in the world), leading 2-0 and losing three consecutive sets and being reversed, and did not qualify for the next round.
At present, Matsushima Keiko himself is ranked 407th in the world, combined with his performance in recent years, he may not be inferior to the adult athletes in the same rank, but it is very difficult to beat the players in the top 200 - and Zhang Benzhi and the 13-year-old eliminated the Olympic men's singles runner-up Mizutani Hayabusa at the World Table Tennis Championships, which is too much stronger!
From the point of view of playing style, Matsushima Huikong is still a traditional Japanese athlete, good at playing smart ball, winning with lines and landing points, but after the reform of the International Table Tennis Federation inorganic glue and new plastic balls, the development of this type of athlete has been greatly limited, and Zhang Benzhihe is an athlete known for the quality of the veneer, so he can play with first-class masters very early, more precocious than Matsushima Huikong.
But even so, we still should not forget that Matsushima Huikong is only 14 years old now, and his body is still developing, so it is still possible to strengthen the quality of his shots and improve the threat of attack in the future - the progress of young players is often a day, for such a young and promising new star, the Chinese team must not take it lightly.