The ITTF Singles World Cup is restarted, who can be the next Grand Slam player?
The General Team Championship in Chengdu has just come to an end, and the ITTF has announced two happy things.
On the day of the end of the mixed doubles championships, the president of the Table Tennis Federation, Petra Sorin, and the vice chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, Liu Guoliang, made an important decision: Macau, China will start the men's table tennis championships in April next year.
In addition, the WTT Grand Slam in Singapore will be held from March 10 to 17 at a stadium in Singapore. This will be the third Grand Slam tournament in Singapore in three years, and both times in March.
National table tennis has resumed the men's singles and women's singles competitions, which means that athletes can fight for the Grand Slam.
The so-called Grand Slam tournaments are generally won at the Olympics, table tennis, World Championships, and World Championships. If he can win three gold medals at the World Championships, then he is a Grand Slam winner.
In world table tennis, there are 10 players who have won Grand Slams. Men's athletes include: Waldner, Liu Guoliang, Kong Linghui, Zhang Jike, Ma Long;Female athletes: Deng Yaping, Wang Nan, Zhang Yining, Li Xiaoxia, Ding Ning. There are nine members in the national table tennis team, and Zhang Yining and Ma Long have won two Grand Slams (two in the three major tournaments).
Who will be the next Grand Slam winner?
First of all, it should be noted that the player who won the Singapore Grand Slam men's singles championship is not a Grand Slam.
And the WTT World Cup is not one of the three major tournaments in the world. WTT competitions, with only 1,500 points, are not as good as WTT, the Olympics and the World Table Tennis Championships. In these three competitions, the first place in the single race can be rewarded with 2,000 points. The WTT game is just a second-rate game.
Now, the ITTF is preparing for the resumption of the Men's Singles and Women's Singles World Cups, and only players who have won three gold medals at the Olympics, the World Table Tennis Championships and the World Cup will be considered complete in their Grand Slam tournaments.
The two players of the national table tennis team are only one step away from winning the Grand Slam.
Chen Meng is the best example. She won the Women's Singles World Championships in November 2020 and July 2021, respectively. She is the women's singles player at the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships. If she can win the women's singles gold medal at the World Table Tennis Championships, she will be the fastest player in history to complete a Grand Slam. Unfortunately, she failed in the semi-finals. At the Durban International Table Tennis Championships, Chen Meng only won the second place in the World Table Tennis Championships and lost the opportunity to a Grand Slam again.
For Chen Meng, her only hope is to win the gold medal in women's singles at the next World Table Tennis Championships. Chen Meng is getting older, her state has declined a little, and by 2025, she will not be able to achieve her goals. If she can hold out until that day. Chen Meng will be 31 years old in 2025.
Fan Zhendong is also expected to win a Grand Slam title. Fan Zhendong is the men's singles champion of four World Cups and the men's singles champion of two World Table Tennis Championships, only one Olympic men's singles gold medal. At his current level, he has a good chance of winning the men's singles title in Paris next year. Fan Zhendong is very hopeful of winning the next Grand Slam.
And Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu are also likely to win the Grand Slam championship.
Sun Yingsha, on May 28 this year, won the first post-00 player in the women's team championship at the World Table Tennis Championships in Durban. She is expected to feature at the Women's Singles Championships in April and at the Paris Olympics at the end of July. With Sun Yingsha's level, she hopes to hit the gold medal in women's singles and Olympic women's singles at this World Cup.
Zhang Jike completed a Grand Slam in 445 days, which is also the fastest player in the world to complete a Grand Slam. It is possible for Sun Yingsha to surpass Zhang Jike's record, but it is more difficult. In the women's table tennis competition, there is fierce competition, and it is very difficult for Sun Yingsha to win the women's singles and double gold medals at the World Championships and the Olympics. But Sun Yingsha was able to do just that.
The same is true for Wang Manyu.
Wang Manyu won the women's singles gold medal at the World Table Tennis Championships in November 2021. She is also expected to qualify for the next World Cup, as well as the Olympics in Paris. It wouldn't be surprising if she won a Grand Slam before Sun. However, if she can play the next World Cup and the Olympic Women's Singles tournament, it will be a different story.
In this way, Fan Zhendong, Chen Meng, Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, and the other 4 people all hope to win the Grand Slam, and Fan Zhendong is the most promising person to win the Grand Slam championship.
However, it is also possible, after all, none of the four won the championship. After all, in table tennis, the competition is very fierce, and no one dares to say that they will be able to win gold medals in three events.
And for those athletes who haven't won three World Series men's singles titles, it's too early to talk about Grand Slams.