East-West Question丨Yue Haipeng: In a century of table tennis, how does the small ball turn the big ball?

　　China News Agency, Chengdu, September 26th, question: In a century of table tennis, how does the small ball turn the big ball?

　　——Interview with Yue Haipeng, the international referee of the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships

　　China News Agency reporter He Shaoqing

　　The 56th ITTF World Table Tennis Team Championships (finals) in 2022 will be held in Chengdu from September 30 to October 9.

As another world top event held in China after the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships will once again attract the attention of the world.

　　Why did table tennis, which originated in the UK, become China's "national ball"?

A century of table tennis, how does the small ball turn the big ball?

After a lapse of 69 years, Guoping played in a "horizontal shot" again. What are the stories behind it?

Professor Yue Haipeng, the international referee of the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships team competition, the deputy director of the Sichuan Table Tennis Association Judgment Committee, and the director of the Table Tennis Teaching and Research Section of the Chengdu Institute of Physical Education, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency "East and West Questions" to interpret this.

The following is a summary of the interview transcript:

China News Agency reporter: Can you introduce the origin and development of table tennis?

For hundreds of years, how did the small table tennis ball turn the big ball and build a bridge between East and West?

Yue Haipeng:

We can spy on the origin of table tennis from the English name of table tennis - "table tennis".

There was tennis first, then table tennis.

At the end of the 19th century, tennis was popular in Europe. However, due to the limitation of venues and weather, British college students moved tennis indoors, using the dining table as the table, the book as the net, and the parchment as the racket.

Two table tennis lovers compete on the streets of London.

Photo by Tomita

　　In 1890, several British naval officers stationed in India found it quite exciting to play tennis on a small table. They switched to solid rubber instead of a solid ball with little elasticity, and then changed to a hollow plastic ball, and used a wooden board instead of a net. shoot.

This novel "tennis game" gradually evolved into Table tennis, which is also called table tennis.

　　In the past, it was often believed that table tennis first arrived in China around 1904.

At that time, Wang Daoping, the owner of the Shanghai stationery store, often went to Japan to purchase stationery. After seeing the table tennis performance, he bought more than ten pairs of equipment and brought them back to Shanghai.

However, in 2007, the official website of the ITTF published a paper "Evidence of Table Tennis Appearing in China in 1901" by Chak Hoy, director of the ITTF Table Tennis Museum, showing that table tennis had been introduced to China at least in 1901. The location is Tianjin, and one of the evidences given is a postcard dated January 25, 1902, which reads: "There is a tennis ball in the living room of every European family here, and it is very interesting to play. It has a net in the middle of a large table, the two beats are made of drum skins, and the balls are celluloid."

Children experience table tennis during the "Public Open Day" of the China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing, September 4, 2022.

Photo by Jiang Qiming

　　Last year marked the 50th anniversary of China-US "ping-pong diplomacy".

Fifty years ago, American athletes accidentally took the bus of the Chinese team, which opened the prelude to the normalization of Sino-US relations, and contributed to one of the most famous historical events in the world table tennis world, that is, the well-known "small ball turns the big ball".

In this process, table tennis is an important lubricant and communication medium, which enhances the understanding of China in the West.

　　In the following 50 years, the Chinese Table Tennis Association has promoted multinational teams to participate in the competition for many times. In the 2015 Suzhou World Table Tennis Championships, the Chinese team formed a multinational pairing with a number of associations. Among them, the combination of Xu Xin/Liang Xiayin won the mixed doubles gold medal; In the World Table Tennis Championships in Erdorf, China's Fang Bo and Germany's Soljia won the mixed doubles third place; in the 2020 China Table Tennis Super League, five female athletes from other associations formed the "ITTF World Professional Team" to participate in the competition , In the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships in Houston, two pairs of mixed doubles pairs composed of China and the United States, Wang Manyu/Karnak, Lin Gaoyuan/Zhang An, will participate in the competition. In the new era, athletes continue to use table tennis as a link to communicate across regions and language barriers. It is a continuation of the spirit of "ping-pong diplomacy".

On November 22, 2021, two pairs of Sino-US transnational mixed doubles pairs Wang Manyu/Karnak and Lin Gaoyuan/Zhang An, who are preparing for the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston, USA, practice together.

Photo by Liu Guanguan

China News Service reporter: The Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships team competition is about to start shooting. This is the sixth time that the World Table Tennis Championships have settled in China.

What are the unforgettable moments of the first five World Table Tennis Championships held in China, and what can you expect from the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships team competition?

Yue Haipeng: The

World Table Tennis Championships in China, from Beijing in 1961, Tianjin in 1995, Shanghai in 2005, Guangzhou in 2008, Suzhou in 2015, and Chengdu in 2022, the time course and city span record the development of national table tennis.

In 1961, China hosted the World Table Tennis Championships for the first time, and the Chinese men's team won the team championship; in the 2005 Shanghai World Table Tennis Championships, the Chinese team swept the men's and women's championships; in the 2015 Suzhou World Table Tennis Championships, "New King" Ma Long opened a new era with a men's singles gold medal. era.

2005 Shanghai World Table Tennis Championships.

Photo by Tang Yanjun

　　The Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships team competition Guoping can be said to have sent the strongest lineup. This is also the eighth time that Ma Long has participated in the World Table Tennis Championships in his career.

The perfect echelon construction is one of the characteristics of national table tennis, and the old players lead the new players to grow continuously.

Although the three main players of the German team, Bol, Ochalov and Francesca, are absent for various reasons, I still believe that this tournament will be very exciting and will bring many surprises to the fans.

Ma Long (second from left) won the men's singles championship at the 2015 Suzhou World Table Tennis Championships.

Photo by Liu Guanguan

China News Agency reporter: Why did table tennis, which originated in the UK, become China's "national ball"?

Has the national table tennis been so strong, and how has the world table tennis competition evolved?

Yue Haipeng: In the 25th World Table Tennis Championships in 1959, Chinese table tennis player Rong

After the game, national leaders called this championship and the ten-year National Day "Double Happiness". The first Chinese domestic table tennis brand "Double Happiness" was named after it, and table tennis has since been known as China's "national ball".

　　In the heyday of European table tennis, the main style of play in the world was slicing, which was mostly defensive.

After the rise of the Japanese team, a new spongy rubber appeared, prompting the game of table tennis to start a battle for rotation.

In 1957, the Japanese invented the sponge forward sticker and reverse sticker. The Japanese team used it to carry out long-drawn attacks on COSCO stations, and Chinese athletes used positive glue to quickly attack the station.

　　During the development of table tennis in China and Japan, European sports teams were also actively developing, combining the learning of Chinese and Japanese techniques to form a combination of curve ball and fast break.

Today, the combination of the arc ball and the fast break has become the mainstream, and the Chinese team has become stronger and stronger, becoming the strongest competitor in the world.

On November 29, 2021, Chinese player Fan Zhendong won the men's singles championship at the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston.

Photo by Liu Guanguan

China News Agency reporter: In the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships team competition, the national table tennis team played "horizontal shot" again after a lapse of 69 years. Is the era of "straight shot" in table tennis over?

Yue Haipeng:

According to the grip method, table tennis is divided into horizontal and straight.

The advantage of the horizontal shot is that it has strong mid-to-far table capabilities and is more comprehensive; while the straight shot has the advantage of fast attack speed near the table, quick changes in the forehand and backhand, and good handling of the ball in the table, especially the ability to return and serve.

　　Because table tennis originated from tennis, tennis rackets are all horizontal, so the earliest table tennis is also horizontal.

After Japan invented the sponge paddle and the rubber paddle, the straight grip method came into being.

After the straight shot grip was introduced into China, Guoping combined its own characteristics to form its own style of straight shot fast attack.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Chinese straight shot swept the table tennis world. At that time, most Chinese athletes used the straight shot.

　　Later, the rules of table tennis competition changed, the ball increased from 38 mm to 40 mm, the speed of the ball was reduced to a certain extent, and players were required to hit the ball with more force, so that the advantages of the horizontal shot were brought into play. downwind.

Later, Guoping continued to innovate the straight beat style, but it was still suppressed by the power and rotation of the horizontal beat.

I think in the future, if the straight shot wants to shine again, it needs to invent a new style of play to restrain the spin and power of the horizontal shot.

Yue Haipeng and his team members are in training.

Photo by Anyuan

　　Although straight shooting needs innovation, it does not mean that this style of play will disappear in China.

At present, table tennis schools and clubs all over China still regard the straight shot method as an important course, and the direct shot players can still be seen in major domestic competitions.

China has not given up on the training of straight shooters, and it is very likely to usher in the era of straight shooting in the future.

　　It is worth mentioning that in addition to China, there are two very talented straight-shooting athletes in Europe. One is Chinese-American player Qiu Dang, who is the first straight-shooting men's singles champion in the history of the European Championships; It is the French native Felix.

　　There are still many strong table tennis teams in the world, such as Germany, Japan, South Korea, etc. They have always been strong competitors of national table tennis in the international arena, and they have always inspired national table tennis to continue to improve and innovate.

(Finish)

Interviewee Profile:

Professor Yue Haipeng is the international referee of the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships team competition, the deputy director of the Sichuan Table Tennis Association Judgment Committee, and the director of the Table Tennis Teaching and Research Section of the Chengdu Institute of Physical Education.

Photo by Anyuan

　　Yue Haipeng, Professor, Director of the Table Tennis Teaching and Research Section of Chengdu Institute of Physical Education, International Table Tennis Referee, Deputy Director of the Sichuan Table Tennis Association Referee Committee.

He has served as a referee in international events such as the Table Tennis World Cup, the International Table Tennis Open, and the Military Games, and is the referee for the current Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships team competition.