Busan, South Korea, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- World Table Tennis Championships Team Tournament Preview: Training in Busan and aiming at Paris.
Xinhua News Agency reporters Tan Chang, Su Bin, Feng Yasong.
The 2024 ITTF World Table Tennis Team Championships in Busan will be held from February 16 to 25. The men's and women's quarterfinals will qualify for the team competition of the table tennis event of the Paris Olympic Games, and each team will send a strong team to fight for the Olympic ticket. The Chinese men's and women's teams have locked the seats for the Paris Olympics through last year's Asian Championships, and this time they hit the World Table Tennis Championships for the men's team for 11 consecutive championships and the women's team for 6 consecutive championships.
Li Falcon, the head coach of the national table tennis team, introduced that under the grand strategy of preparing for the Paris Olympics, according to the selection method, the Chinese team finally determined "the strongest team lineup at present". The men's team is composed of Fan Zhendong, Wang Chuqin, Ma Long, Liang Jingkun and Lin Gaoyuan, and the women's team sends Sun Yingsha, Wang Yidi, Chen Meng, Wang Manyu and Chen Xingtong. In 2022, it was this lineup that won the double championship in the team competition of the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships.
Before the game, Li Falcon, the head coach of the men's team Wang Hao, and the head coach of the women's team Ma Lin all put forward the goal of "competing for the championship", and at the same time pointed to Paris. "For us, the goal of the World Table Tennis Championships in Busan is to go all out to win the championship. We will make good use of this opportunity to hone our players and gain experience for the Paris Olympics. Li Falcon said.
Wang Hao said: "We have only one goal, which is to strive for the championship. At this important juncture in preparing for the Paris Olympics, it is very important to be able to compete with the main opponents on the stage of the World Table Tennis Championships team competition and win the competition with all our might, which is very important for the morale of our whole team and the confidence to prepare for the Paris Olympics. ”
Judging from the strength of the players in recent competitions and the world ranking points, the Chinese men's and women's teams are obviously superior, but some old opponents are eyeing them and should not be underestimated.
In the previous two World Table Tennis Championships team competitions, the German men's team reached the finals and finally lost to the Chinese team. In this competition, the German men's team lineup includes Qiu Dang, who is ranked tenth in the world, as well as Ocharov and Boer, two veterans, who are bound to once again attack the dominance of the Chinese team.
In the team competition of the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships, Tomokazu Zhang of the Japanese men's team defeated Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong in the semifinals, almost helping the team win. In the rematch of the World Table Tennis Championships, world No. 9 Tomokazu Zhang said that the first goal is to stand on the podium, "of course, at the same time, our goal is to win the championship."
The Japanese women's team fielded Hina Hayata, Mimato Ito, Miu Hirano, Miyu Kihara, and 15-year-old Miwa Haramoto. Talking about this event, the coach of the Japanese women's team, Takehiro Watanabe, said that he will first ensure that he will enter the top eight and get the team quota for the Paris Olympics, and then strive to defeat the Chinese team.
Talking about the Japanese women's team, Ma Lin said: "Our main opponent, the Japanese team, has also confirmed the Olympic lineup, and this team event has sent all the main players to participate, so the competition between our two sides at the World Table Tennis Championships in Busan is very important. ”
It is worth mentioning that the World Table Tennis Championships was held in South Korea for the first time, and the South Korean men's team sent Zhang Yuzhen, Lim Jong-hoon, Lee Sang-so and other good players. The South Korean women's team is led by world No. 8 Shin Yubin. Playing at home, they have both strength and motivation. "This is the first time that South Korea has hosted the World Table Tennis Championships, and I will try my best to prepare and try to get good results. Lee Sang-so said.
In the group stage starting on the 16th, the Chinese women's team will face the Indian team in the morning, and the Chinese men's team will play Belgium in the evening. (ENDS).