The Chinese mixed doubles team lost in the final to Japan in the discipline's first event.
A small cataclysm in a country accustomed to eating almost all the gold medals since 1988.
The emergence of Japan, expected, could also lead to surprises in singles.
From our special correspondent in Tokyo,
Flags at half mast this morning in Beijing and crisis meeting at the central office of the Chinese Communist Party. The national team lost in the table tennis mixed doubles final. An intolerable affront for a country which confiscates the gold medals of the discipline and which exports its linings everywhere. Two figures among others that will speak better than us: 28 gold medals out of 33 won since the appearance of the ping at the Olympics, in 1988, and an exclusively Chinese final for men since Athens, in 2004.
Come on, a third for the road: in Rio, four years ago, the
New York Times
had calculated that 44 athletes entered in the Olympic table were born in China, or 30% of the participants, most of whom had chosen to try their luck abroad, given the insane level in the country.
It's completely cooked, therefore, when you tell the story from afar.
A destabilizing internal tournament in May
The proof that it is not. Liu Shiwen and Xu Xin wanted to hide in a basement at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Monday night. “No matter what may have happened before, it's the image of the podium that counts, and we are not on the first step. The outcome, for our entire team, is something that we cannot accept, ”admitted the latter, livid at a press conference. The clique of officials of the delegation who had gathered hastily in the stands in two sets everywhere, alerted by the danger, had left the scene a long time ago.
It was to be harsh in the official Chinese press on Tuesday, with four medals remaining at stake this week.
The one that comes down to us was already very angry two months ago, daring to anticipate the possibility of a resounding failure in Japan.
The cause of this unprecedented national turmoil?
Zhou Quiao's victory in an internal tournament in May.
Zou who?
Regardless, just remember that the guy is 122nd in the world and that he hit Fan Zhendong, the world number 1, and Ma Long, the reigning Olympic champion, that is to say the two champions selected for Tokyo, that we cannot not suspect of having been retained at the piston.
Among the girls, the reigning world and Olympic champions were kindly asked to stay home this time, beaten by better ones.
The Zou Quiao explosion had moved even Lio Guolian, president of the Chinese federation, forced to organize in disaster a last home preparation tournament at the end of June to restore confidence to his boys.
"Our excellent past results cannot be used as a basis for what we are going to do in Tokyo," the living legend of the ping warned on this occasion.
I dare to hope that our athletes and the coach do not feel too much weight on the shoulders because of the expectations of the fans who want China to win the five gold medals at stake. home can be a great motivation for Japan ”.
Well seen.
The Japanese threat
Because beyond the Chinese weaknesses, there is for the first time since the 1990s the idea of a collective power capable of shaking the monopoly of the despots of table tennis. The Japanese, therefore, who, even deprived at the last moment of popular support, advance conquerors behind their two rising stars: the amazing Tomokazu Himaroto, 4th in the world at 18, and Mima Ito, 2nd in the world for women. The former was not even lined up in the pair that beat China in mixed doubles. Jean-Nicolas Barrelier, DTN of French ping, deciphers:
Japan is a nation that is growing in importance in a very important way.
It is not a big surprise, we are talking about a country which has a great table tennis culture and which has made strategic choices towards high performance.
They are not favorites, but they have shown that they are able to upset the Chinese.
"
And Barrelier continued: “When you are a host nation, there are many things that can be untied, a particular dynamic can be created, and there… Here we are.
"
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has agreed to move away referees' tables back by 50 centimeters in the table tennis events at the Tokyo Olympics to increase the width of the undersized field.
pic.twitter.com/0EZ3X5vwl0
- Sports China (@PDChinaSports) July 23, 2021
Complaints that make you smile
Even before the rout of the mixed, the first signs of a certain feverishness of the Chinese team had multiplied in recent days. How else to explain these incredible recriminations on the size of the playing areas around the tables from Mr Liu, head coach: "At the worlds it's 7 meters by 14, here 6 out of 11. I am worried about the world. level of racing and athlete safety ”. Lui Golian had already put a smile on his face when he spoke of his surprise at the special epidemic rules of the game - “we didn't expect that we couldn't wipe the table with our hand or blow on the ball” - as if a little sweat on the table could lose a gold medal.
The great Chinese ping helmsman did not dare, all the same, repeated his remarks made in May, when he declared that "his sport would have more charm if China did not win everything on a world scale".
The IOC, which decided to limit the quotas to two participants per event and per country from Rio to “open” at least the bronze medal to competition, had to gain a foothold on Monday evening.
Chinese fans much less.
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