The 12 main players of the Chinese national table tennis team are about to leave for Singapore to prepare for the WTT Grand Slam. At the previous World Table Tennis Championships in Busan, the Chinese team once again proved that they are the hegemon of the table tennis world, and the men's and women's teams won the championship. However, that doesn't mean they can rest easy, and they will have to face tough opponents from other countries and regions.
In the international table tennis arena, the Chinese team has always been the undisputed hegemon. However, in recent years, a group of young and impactful table tennis stars have emerged internationally. Like Tomokazu Zhangmoto, Miwa Zhangmoto, Shinozuka Daito, etc., although their skills are not as good as national table tennis, they have been able to bring trouble to national table tennis.
And there are those who have already shown their strength in international competitions. For example, Japan's Tomokazu Haramoto, who reached the men's singles final at the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships, became the youngest finalist in history. Although he lost to China's Ma Long, he was only a teenager at that time, and now his skills are more mature, which has brought a lot of pressure to the Chinese team.
Chinese Taipei's Lin Yunru won the men's singles runner-up at the 2021 Asian Table Tennis Championships, becoming the best result in Chinese Taipei's history. His style of play is versatile, allowing him to deal with any situation in the game.
These young table tennis stars have brought new challenges to national table tennis. National table tennis can no longer win every game as easily as before. In the face of these new opponents, national table tennis needs to be more cautious in order to maintain its status as the king of the world table tennis arena.
Just when all countries are paying great attention to the cultivation of young people, the national table tennis has made an unexpected choice: not to participate in the six regional events in March and April.
This choice surprised and puzzled many people. Some say that this is so that the main players can concentrate on preparing for the Grand Slam and avoid being distracted and hurt by the feeder tournaments.
But there are also those who feel that it is a wrong decision. They believe that feeder tournaments are a stage for young players to showcase themselves and an opportunity for them to improve their level and experience. If you abandon the feeder tournament, young players will lose the opportunity to communicate and compete with players from other countries.
The decision also raises questions about the training of young players for the Chinese national table tennis team. The future of Chinese table tennis needs a group of young players with strength and potential. To cultivate such young players, it is necessary to have a perfect echelon system and an effective training plan.
Table tennis is China's national sport, but internationally, the level of other countries is also improving, which has brought great pressure to the Chinese team. If the Chinese team wants to maintain its advantage, it must pay attention to the cultivation of the younger generation.
It may be because this year is a critical year for the Olympic Games, and all the competition preparations need to be carried out around the main players. On the main side, there are Grand Slams and Champions Cups in March, and the Singles World Cup in April. The games in these two months are very important and all the coaching staff and support teams have to play with the main team.
There are no extra coaches and physical fitness to follow the young players to participate in the straight line, so the young players can only give up the opportunity to compete abroad in the past two months.
However, there are indeed problems in the echelon construction of national table tennis, so far, the Japanese team has cultivated a group of players who can be independent in their teens, but the teenage players on the national table tennis side are average, and the only one who is more brilliant is Lin Shidong. However, Lin Shidong's comprehensive strength is still worse than that of several Japanese players.
I hope that after the end of the Olympic Games, the national table tennis will be able to train and select young players, and make up for the reserve force as soon as possible, so that the national table tennis will not have an embarrassment similar to Ma Long.