This is shocking news!The International Table Tennis Federation officially announced at 9 a.m. that Wang Yidi of Chinese women's table tennis has qualified for the women's singles at the Paris Olympics, surpassing Wang Manyu and becoming the world's third-ranked player. This means that Chen Meng, who was originally firmly in third place, will face the danger of being squeezed out of the Olympic list. What the hell is going on?Why did the ITTF make such a decision?What impact does this have on the future of Chinese women's table tennis?Let's take a look!
The rules of the International Table Tennis Federation have changed, and Wang Yidi's strength has exploded
To understand the ins and outs of this matter, we must first understand the ITTF's Olympic selection rules. According to the ITTF regulations, only one player from each country or region can compete in the mixed doubles competition at the Olympic Games, and it must be a player ranked in the top 8 in the world. This means that if a player from one country or region competes in both singles and mixed doubles, then he or she occupies two places, reducing the opportunities for other players.
So, how did Wang Yidi qualify for the Olympics?It turned out that the ITTF made some adjustments to the Olympic selection rules in March this year, the most important of which is that if a player reaches the final of the singles competition in the Asian Games, then he or she can directly qualify for the Olympic singles without considering the restrictions of the world ranking. And Wang Yidi successfully reached the women's singles final in the Hangzhou Asian Games in September this year, although she lost to Sun Yingsha in the end, but she has already received the award of the International Table Tennis Federation, that is, 600 championship points, which made her rise to the third place in the world ranking all of a sudden, surpassing Wang Manyu, that is, she has met the Olympic selection rules of the International Table Tennis Federation and can directly participate in the women's singles competition of the Paris Olympics.
Chen Meng's situation is critical, and the choice of national table tennis is difficult
So, what impact does Wang Yidi's sudden rise have on other players in Chinese women's table tennis?Obviously, the one who was most affected was Chen Meng. Chen Meng is a veteran of Chinese women's table tennis and a world champion, she once defeated Liu Shiwen at the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships and won the women's singles championship, and she is also one of the main forces of Chinese women's table tennis at the Tokyo Olympics. However, due to injuries and form swings this year, Chen Meng's world ranking has been slipping and has now fallen to fifth, and she has yet to compete in any mixed doubles tournaments, meaning she does not qualify for any Olympics. If according to the rules of the International Table Tennis Federation, the Chinese women's table tennis can only send two singles players, then Chen Meng is likely to be squeezed out of the list by Wang Yidi and Sun Yingsha and lose the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games.
Of course, the rules of the ITTF are not static, and national table tennis also has its own choice. According to the ITTF regulations, each country or region can submit its own Olympic participation list to the ITTF until May 31, 2024, and the list can be adjusted according to its own situation, as long as it does not exceed the limit of two men and two women. This means that the national table tennis still has time and space to consider its best plan, and may make the most appropriate arrangements according to the player's state, characteristics, opponents and other factors. Perhaps, the national table tennis will let Wang Yidi and Sun Yingsha participate in the mixed doubles, so as to free up singles places for Chen Meng and Wang Manyu, perhaps, the national table tennis will let Chen Meng and Wang Manyu participate in the mixed doubles, so as to reserve the singles places for Wang Yidi and Sun Yingsha, perhaps, the national table tennis will let one of them give up the mixed doubles, so as to leave the singles places for the other three, these are all possible choices, the national table tennis needs to carefully weigh the pros and cons in the next time, and make the decision that is most beneficial to the Chinese women's table tennis.
The heated discussion of netizens, the future of national table tennis
As soon as this matter was officially announced by the International Table Tennis Federation, it aroused heated discussions among netizens, many people expressed their appreciation for Wang Yidi's performance, and also expressed sympathy for Chen Meng's situation, and some people put forward their own opinions on the choice of national table tennis.
No matter what choice the national table tennis will make in the end, we should respect their decision, support their efforts, and believe in their strength. After all, every player of national table tennis has gone through countless competitions, training, challenges, and tempering before they can stand on the world stage, show their own style, and win glory for the country and the nation.
They are our pride, our role models, our heroes. We should applaud them, cheer them on, pray for them, and cheer for them. Let us look forward to the future of national table tennis will be more brilliant, and the future of national table tennis will be even better!