The World Table Tennis Championships are about to start, and Fan Zhendong, the absolute main force of the national table tennis men's team and the world champion, was interviewed by the media recently. When asked which three foreigners could team up to become the strongest athlete squad outside of national table tennis, Fan Zhendong mentioned the names of four people. The first three are also active in the current table tennis arena, namely Germany's Bohr and Ochalov, and Britain's Pitchefort.
After these three people, Fan Zhendong said that "if you can count the retired ones", there is another person who can be shortlisted. So who is this person, who can still get the attention of Fan Zhendong after retiring, and he is regarded as one of the strongest table tennis players in foreign countries?
He is a Korean table tennis legend and once the "world's first sharpshooter" - Ju Shi hyuk.
Zhu Shihe is indeed a legend. The style of cutting the ball he uses is a popular technique when table tennis was first born a hundred years ago. In the past three decades, no chipper has won a world singles title (the closest world singles champion to us is Chen Xinhua, who won the World Cup 33 years ago).
Although he failed to achieve the feat of reaching the top, Zhu Shihe was indeed a blockbuster when he first debuted, and in the case of ranking 61st in the world, he even made a Difference between Asian and European table tennis masters such as Marlene and Glinka to reach the men's singles final of the 2003 World Table Tennis Championships. In the final match against Austrian veteran Schrag, Zhu Shihe still performed very well, but unfortunately lost to the opponent in the end with a very small gap of 2-4 overall score and 10-12 in the sixth set.
But in that competition, no one felt that Zhu Shihe was a loser. Because his playing style is too backward and too "antique", no one will expect him to reach the final, and even think that he can enter the top eight at most. But Zhu Shihe has achieved a height that is difficult for people in his own field of playing to reach, and he can be regarded as a waste of his career.
Zhu Shihe's cutting skills are indeed very deep, and Li Xiaodong, the gold medal coach of national table tennis, has said many times in his commentary: Old Zhu has real skills! Not only did he eliminate Marlene at the 2003 World Table Tennis Championships, Zhu Shihe also eliminated Ma Long at the 2007 World Table Tennis Championships. After the Beijing Olympic Games, after the decline in the state of Liu Chengmin and Wu Shangyi, Zhu Shihe still stands in the forest of world-class masters, not simple!
What is even more touching is that in 2012, Zhu Shihe was diagnosed with a rare inflammation called Behcet's disease, which affected the nervous system, digestive tract, lungs, kidneys and epididymis and other organs.
This is probably called sportsmanship!
At the end of last year, Zhu Shihe and Wu Shangyan held a retirement ceremony together to officially announce their farewell to the field. However, in terms of Zhu Shihe's basic skills and the particularity of the cutting style of play (relatively long sports life), even if he comes back now, he can become a first-class master of foreign table tennis, which is probably why Fan Zhendong still regards him as the strongest foreign opponent who can be juxtaposed with Pol, Ochea and Pichefort!
However, the 38-year-old age and the plague of illness make the possibility of Zhu Shihe fighting again become very small, or hope that he can take good care of himself after retiring, and have the opportunity to come to China often, after all, he used to be the same as the old national player Ding Song, carrying too many dreams and memories of chipping enthusiasts! I also hope that there will be excellent chippers in China and the world table tennis arena, inherit their mantle, and present more wonderful offensive and defensive battles for fans and friends!