Do you know what are the second millennium children in the international sports world who can be called the "uncrowned king"? Why can't Wang Hao be on the list?
10th place: Tai Tzu Ying.
Tai Tzu Ying is a famous badminton player in Chinese Taipei, born in Kaohsiung City. She is the first athlete from Taiwan Province to be ranked No. 1 in the world by the International Badminton Federation. She has been competing internationally since 2009 and has topped the women's singles rankings for 137 weeks, as well as the most wins in women's singles history and the most international titles, including 12 Superseries, three Grand Prix and 15 World Tour titles. But it's a pity that Tai Tzu Ying's performance at the most important World Championships and Olympics has always been lackluster. She lost to Chen Yufei in the women's singles final at Tokyo 2021 with a -21 loss, won a silver medal at the 2021 World Championships in Huelva with a 2-0 loss to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi, and also won a bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships in Tokyo.
Ninth place: Huang Xuechen.
Synchronized swimming began to enter the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984, and was monopolized by the United States, Canada and Japan in the early days, and all the medals were won by these three countries, and after the Sydney Olympics, Russia rose strongly, and the Chinese team won a total of 5 silver and 2 bronze after the Beijing Olympics. However, due to Russia's strength can be described as terrifying, Huang Xuechen's silver medal is basically the limit. She is a silver medal harvester at the World Championships, from the 2009 World Championships in Rome to the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, she won 18 silvers and 2 bronzes, and it is not an exaggeration to say that she is the second in the millennium.
8th place: Sweden women's football team.
If there is one of the saddest teams in women's football, it is Sweden. The team has never been absent from the 1991 World Cup in China, in addition to losing 1:2 to the United States in 2003, but also won the third place four times in 1991, 2011, 2015 and 2019, and is the team that has never lost the bronze medal game, and they are also unlucky in the Olympic Games, in addition to the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics won the fourth place twice, but also lost to Germany and Canada in the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, winning two silver medals. Of course, there is another team that is also very sad. That is the Brazilian women's football team, the runner-up and third place in the World Cup, the runner-up twice in the Olympic Games and the fourth place three times.
7th place: Safina.
Safina is the younger sister of tennis superstar Safin, and she and her brother have both topped the men's and women's singles world rankings. She has won 12 singles titles and nine doubles titles in her career, and was ranked No. 1 in the world for 26 weeks. But unfortunately, she reached the final of the Grand Slam women's singles three times and lost all of them. First lost to Serbia's Branislav Ivanovic at the 2008 French Open, then to Serena Williams at the Australian Open the following year, and to Russia's Kuznetsova at the French Open in the same year. Safina also lost to her compatriot Dementieva at the Beijing Olympics, winning a silver medal.
Sixth place: Serbian men's basketball team.
It is undeniable that Yugoslavia was very strong in basketball, winning one gold, four silver and one bronze in the Olympic Games, and five gold, three silver and two bronze medals in the World Championships. However, with the drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the current Serbian team, although still very strong, has always lacked championship temperament. They lost 66-96 to the United States at Rio 2016, 92-129 to the United States at the 2014 Men's Basketball World Cup, and 77-83 to Germany at the 2023 World Cup, and have not even won the European Championships.
Fifth place: Tan Liangde.
Tan Liangde was born in Maoming, Guangdong, and he can be said to be the saddest player in the history of the Chinese diving team. At that time, men's diving was still under the rule of Louganis in the United States. At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Tan Liangde lost to Louganis by an absolute disadvantage, won the first silver medal in the men's three-meter springboard, and lost to Louganis by less than 30 points at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and won the second Olympic silver medal. After that, Louganis retired, but Tan Liangde still did not seize the opportunity, and lost to Mark Lench of the United States in the first place in the preliminaries, and won the Olympic three consecutive runners-up. He also struggled at the World Championships, winning two silver medals in the men's 3m springboard at the 1996 World Championships in Madrid and the 1991 World Championships in Pas.
Fourth place: Jimmy White.
Jimmy White was born in Barham, a western suburb of London. He has the nickname "White Whirlwind" because of his gorgeous and fast rhythm of the game. Although Jimmy White has won 23 professional titles in his career, including 10 ranking tournaments, he won the British Open twice in 1987 and 1992 and the British Championship in 1992. But it's a pity that he has reached a total of six World Championship finals and lost all of them. He lost to Steve Davis in 1984 and reached five consecutive finals in 1990 and 1994, losing to Hendry four times. Especially in 1994, at 17:17, and when the tiebreaker was dominant, there was a low-level mistake, and he was cleared by Hendry, and he had no choice but to accept the fate of six runners-up.
Third place: Lee Chong Wei.
Lee Chong Wei is Malaysian-Chinese, and he is known as the Four Kings of Badminton along with Pitgate, Lin Dan and Tawfik. But Lee Chong Wei's career has been very difficult. First lost to Lin Dan 0:2 in the men's singles final of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and was reversed by Lin Dan in the 2012 London Olympics with a one-game lead, and then at the 2016 Rio Olympics, although he defeated Lin Dan in the semifinals, he lost to another Chinese player Chen Long in the final, and won three consecutive runners-up. Lee Chong Wei also won three silver medals at the World Championships. He lost back-to-back losses to Lin Dan at the 2011 World Championships in London and 2013 in Guangzhou, and back-to-back losses to Chen Long at the 2014 World Championships in Copenhagen and 2015 in Jakarta. Lee Chong Wei also won one silver and four bronze medals in the Thomas Cup, one bronze medal in the Sudirman Cup, and even only one silver and three bronze medals in the Asian Games.
2nd place: Atamonova.
Atamonova is a famous Russian women's volleyball player, who has represented the former Soviet Union, the CIS and Russia in six Olympic Games. First lost to the Cuban women's volleyball team in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and then lost to Cuba again in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, achieving the opponent's eight consecutive championships. And in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, they broke into the finals back-to-back, and with a 2:0 lead, they were chased by the Chinese women's volleyball team in three games to achieve a big reversal, which achieved the most classic scene in the history of the women's volleyball team. Atamonova also won bronze medals at three consecutive World Championships in 1994, 1998 and 2002, as well as silver medals at the 1991 and 1999 World Cups.
1st place: Dutch men's football team.
Many people like the Dutch men's football team, which started with the all-attacking and all-defensive style of play of the year, and the orange army once swept the world, and the title of the uncrowned king was born. Under the leadership of star Cruyff, they reached back-to-back World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978, but lost to two hosts, West Germany and Argentina respectively, and won two consecutive runners-up. In the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the Dutch team reached the final again, but was finally scored by Spain in the second half of extra time. In addition to the three runners-up, the Netherlands also finished third and third once at the World Cup.
What other athletes or teams can you think of without a crown?