Chinanews client, Beijing, November 22 (Reporter Wang Yu) The 50th anniversary of "ping pong diplomacy" marks the 50th anniversary of "ping pong diplomacy".

On November 22, Beijing time, the ITTF announced that Chinese and American players will team up to play in the mixed doubles competition at the 2021 Houston World Table Tennis Championships.

Among them, Lin Gaoyuan will partner with American player Zhang An, and American player Kanak will partner with Wang Manyu.

  Previously, the Chinese table tennis team had formed multinational matches with multiple associations at the World Table Tennis Championships.

At the 2015 Suzhou World Table Tennis Championships, the combination of Xu Xin/Liang Xiayin won the mixed doubles gold medal; at the 2017 Düsseldorf World Table Tennis Championships, the famous national table tennis player Fang Bo and German player Solga won the third place in the mixed doubles.

Now that you are working with foreign players again, why has the attention been unprecedentedly high?

A new chapter in Sino-U.S. sports exchanges

  During the World Table Tennis Championships in Japan in 1971, American player Cohen got on the bus of the Chinese team by mistake. Chinese athlete Zhuang Zedong took the initiative to speak up and presented a Chinese brocade with the scenery of Huangshan as a souvenir.

The next day, Cohen gave a T-shirt with the words "LET IT BE" printed on it, which means a call for peace, as a gift.

This unexpected encounter provided an unexpected opportunity for Sino-US relations to break through the "ice."

  In April 1971, the American table tennis team successfully arrived in Beijing and played a friendly match with Chinese athletes at the Beijing Capital Gymnasium.

This trip opened the door to exchanges between the two countries that have been dusty for many years.

The "Ping Pong Diplomacy" known as "the small ball turns the big ball" has promoted the development of Sino-US relations and changes in the world situation in unexpected ways.

  The following year, the Chinese table tennis team visited the United States to add new colors to this well-known "ping pong diplomacy" at home and abroad.

Sports has become a link connecting China and the United States.

This epoch-making story has continued to influence the communication and integration between China and the United States for the next 50 years.

Today, fifty years later, as Chinese and American players compete side by side in the World Table Tennis Championships, Sino-US sports exchanges derive new vitality.

  From 2019, the Chinese table tennis team was invited by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Table Tennis Association. Liu Guoliang, chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, led the Olympic champions Ma Long, Ding Ning, Xu Xin, Liu Shiwen and other national table tennis players and coaches to fly across the Pacific to join the United States. The table tennis team has been training together for 20 days and is about to stand side by side on the World Table Tennis Championships. Using table tennis balls with a diameter of only three centimeters as the carrier, the exchange and development of sports between China and the United States will continue to write a new chapter.

Liu Guoliang (first from right) watched the Chinese and American athletes practice during the national table tennis training camp in the United States in 2019.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Shuo

Strong alliance for the gold cup

  As soon as the news of the Chinese and American players participating in the Houston World Table Tennis Championships was announced, it quickly attracted widespread attention in the international table tennis world.

Liu Guoliang, Chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, also expressed his expectations for the multinational mixed doubles players. He said: "I look forward to Lin Gaoyuan, Zhang An, Kanak and Wang Manyu, who can play their highest level in this cooperation. Chance to engrave their names on the mixed doubles trophy-the H-Duzek Cup."

  From a competitive point of view, the "strong alliance" of the two countries' players is also one of the highlights of this partnership.

Although they are not too old, Kanak and Zhang An are already battlefield veterans in the table tennis world.

At the 2009 Yokohama World Table Tennis Championships, 13-year-old Zhang An made his debut on the world stage and has been participating as the main force of the United States team for the rest of the time.

  Although born in the United States, Zhang An's parents are both from Xi'an. The word "安" in her name also originated from the thoughts of her parents for her hometown.

In 2012 and 2016, she successively stood on the Olympic stadium.

In the 2019 Women's Table Tennis World Cup, Zhang An, who played with a wild card, eliminated No. 4 seeds Miyu Hirano and Polkanova one after another and broke into the semi-finals, which can be called the "strongest dark horse" of the tournament.

In the women's doubles final of the 14th National Games in Table Tennis, Heilongjiang Team Wang Manyu (right)/Che Xiaoxi (left) defeated Liaoning Team Wang Yidi/Chen Xingtong 4-0 to win the championship.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Wang Gang

  Lin Gaoyuan, currently ranked fifth in the world, hopes to join Zhang An in the World Table Tennis Championships mixed doubles event to fight for the best place. No., our goal is to strive for the first place. The biggest advantage of our cooperation is that she can also speak Chinese. I hope we can quickly get into the state, cooperate with each other and achieve good results through hard work."

  At the age of 21, Kanak set the record for the youngest age at the Olympic Games table tennis men’s singles at the Rio Olympics.

In the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, he even won the men's singles bronze medal and achieved a major breakthrough in American table tennis.

In the second round of the men's singles of the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships, defending champion Malone fought five rounds with him, and it was not easy to win.

Malone also gave the opponent a very high evaluation of "stronger than the American players I imagined."

  Kanak will partner with national table tennis star Wang Manyu to hit the mixed doubles championship.

The latter won the women's team championship at this year's Tokyo Olympics. In the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships, Wang Manyu won the women's singles third place, and partnered with Sun Yingsha to top the women's doubles arena.

Over the years, Wang Manyu's impressive strength and adaptability in singles and doubles multi-line battlefields have also made people look forward to this multinational combination.

Zhang An was a blockbuster during the 2019 Women's Table Tennis World Cup.

Ping Pong exchanges help development

  As the Houston World Table Tennis Championships is about to start, Liu Guoliang, who is in the United States supervising the war of the National Table Tennis Federation, also participated in the election of the ITTF Vice President.

In the nearly five-minute election declaration, Liu Guoliang said: Table tennis is China’s national game. As the chairman of the China Table Tennis Association, he participated in this election because he hopes to represent the China Table Tennis Association and integrate into the world table tennis family at a deeper level.

If elected, China will play an increasingly active role in international table tennis affairs.

  Over the years, Liu Guoliang has not only maintained the leading position of Chinese table tennis in the world, but also promoted the development of table tennis in the world.

In June last year, Liu Guoliang was elected chairman of the World Table Tennis Professional League Council. After that, the China Table Tennis Association and the ITTF worked closely to successfully host a series of restart events such as the Men’s and Women’s World Cup and the ITTF Finals in China. The tournament restarts to make a demonstration.

  In addition, the Chinese Table Tennis Association has also invited the World United Team to participate in the Chinese Table Tennis Super League and closed training sessions with the national table tennis players.

Liu Guoliang said that he has always advocated "Chinese table tennis, shared by the world." After training with the Chinese team, the players have not only made considerable progress in technical and tactics, but also in understanding the sport of table tennis and promoting different players from all over the world. It is a good platform for cultural exchanges and exchanges of ideas.

On April 24, an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of China-US "Ping Pong Diplomacy" was held in Beijing.

The picture shows Liu Guoliang (middle), chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, being interviewed at the event.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Xinglong

  In 2019, during the Chinese table tennis team training in the United States, Liu Guoliang expressed the hope that this trip to the United States will further contribute to the promotion of the development of table tennis in the world.

Table tennis is not only China's national game, but also a world sport.

As a big country in table tennis, China has the responsibility to promote this sport to the United States and to the world.

  Nowadays, many plans such as the participation of Chinese and American players have become a reality. Liu Guoliang's idea of ​​promoting the inclusive development of table tennis is unwavering. "Our opinions and ideas are vital to the future development of table tennis in the world. Especially when the epidemic is spreading. At the moment, we need to unite more and move towards a common goal. I will work with all of you to make our table tennis one of the largest sports in the world." (End)