At the WTT Star Challenge Budapest Station, the national table tennis team, who had done their best, finally ended with four golds and two silvers, showing their dominance as always.
However, the ownership of the men's and women's singles champions has surprised many people - the men's singles champion was won by Wang Chuqin, and the women's singles champion was won by Wang Yidi.
With the approaching of the Paris Olympic cycle, the young people of Guoping are growing.
However, compared with the group advantages of the women's table tennis, the men's table tennis still faces the problem of insufficient talent reserve.
Wang Yidi (left) and Sun Yingsha take a selfie after the game.
Wang Yidi climbed to the top, female table tennis monopoly
"Win two more games on the field first, and bite the score. After all, I lost a lot." This is Wang Yidi's review of his pre-match mentality after winning the championship.
Compared with Sun Yingsha across the table, Wang Yidi is indeed the one who loses more.
In the past year's national table tennis main competition, Wang Yidi went with the team, but under the wave of "involution" of the women's team, she failed to make it to the end.
In the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston, Wang Yidi, who defeated Mima Ito, advanced to the semi-finals, but failed to defeat Sun Yingsha. In the WTT World Cup, Wang Yidi, who defeated Chen Meng, lost to Sun Yingsha in the final and won the runner-up. In the WTT Macau Championship, she lost to Lao Ji Fuzheng. Liu Shiwen stopped in the semi-finals; in the Singapore Grand Slam, Wang Yidi lost to Chen Meng, allowing the latter to win the cup again after 234 days... Wang Yidi finally defeated Sun Yingsha.
Although Wang Yidi has never been able to win the championship, she has become the main player in the Paris Olympic cycle, and she has a winner and loser in the competition with the top players. When facing the main opponent of Chinese women's table tennis, Wang Yidi also showed a very strong dominance.
In the World Table Tennis Championships, Wang Yidi defeated Ito Mima 4-1; in this competition, she faced opponents from Xu Xiaoyuan to Kihara Miyu, from Du Kaiqin to Ishikawa Kashun, and lost a total of two games in four games.
In the final, she completed her "revenge" against Sun Yingsha.
"I didn't get anxious on the court as before, regardless of whether I was leading or falling behind, but I held back. There were two and a half high balls that I missed in the fifth game, so let me slow down and don't worry. I fought a lot, and I didn't have any burdens. I think I played well. pretty good."
In the high-end competitions, Wang Yidi is also gradually maturing. With more confidence and strength, she won the women's singles gold medal again after the WTT regular challenge in Slovenia in November last year.
The appearance of Wang Yidi has not only made the national table tennis women's team more "rolled", but also let the fans reap steady happiness.
Even though Chen Meng retired temporarily due to a shoulder injury, the women's singles semi-finals were still swept up by China. The only Japanese player who made it to the semi-finals was Kasumi Ishikawa, and she never encountered a national table tennis player on her way to promotion.
Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu topped the women's doubles again.
The same is true in women's doubles.
Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu's "seafood sisters" met their main rivals, the Japanese combination Ito Mima / Hayata Hina in the final, and finally defeated their opponents 3-0.
In this game, Wang Manyu was not in a state of "full blood". She suffered a knee injury before and needed acupuncture and painkillers for relief.
Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu in the game.
Wang Chuqin wins the championship, men's table tennis melee
At the moment when China's women's table tennis is showing strong dominance, the men's table tennis also has a dazzling performance, and Wang Chuqin is the biggest gain.
Wang Chuqin, who is regarded by fans as the main player of the Paris Olympic cycle, has gradually shown his strong strength. After winning the men's singles championship at the WTT Macau Championship in January this year, Wang Chuqin won another gold medal.
At the moment, Wang Chuqin is regarded as a model worker in the national table tennis men's team. He has to perform three events in every competition, and the same is true for this competition.
Compared with mixed doubles and men's doubles, Wang Chuqin's singles competition is more difficult. Since he is only 14th in the world ranking, his road to promotion can be called "hell difficulty".
Calderano, Lin Yunru, Malone, Moregarde, Wang Chuqin's singles trip to this tournament was full of fierce battles, but he finally survived.
Although similar to the women's singles, the national table tennis men's singles occupied three seats in the semi-finals, but the strength of the Chinese men's table tennis is far from that of the women's table tennis can dominate - Liang Jingkun lost in the semi-finals to the Houston World Table Tennis Championships runner-up and Swedish rookie Morey Gard.
Wang Chuqin and Morregard take a selfie after the game.
But when the pressure on the men's team was all on Wang Chuqin, and at the same time the second game was 1-8 behind, Wang Chuqin did not mess up, but continued to chase points, and Moregarde finally won the second game with difficulty 11-9.
Looking back on the game after the game, Wang Chuqin said: "Moregarde is now making more and more progress and his ability is getting stronger and stronger. He has a touch that many athletes do not have, and his style of play and ball path make people uncomfortable."
"I made a lot of small mistakes in the middle, but I tried every means to fight on the court, and winning in the end was an affirmation of myself."
Bit by bit, all revealed Wang Chuqin's growth, and after Wang Manyu's mixed doubles match against Zhang Benzhi and Hayata Hina, Wang Chuqin thought that he had won in terms of mentality: "Now I am not as free as I used to play, and I will let myself go. Be more calm and use your head to think about every aspect of every ball." Liang Jingkun/Lin Gaoyuan lost to South Korea's Zhao Dacheng/Lee Sangsu in men's doubles.
Although Wang Chuqin is becoming more and more mature, the national table tennis men's team still cannot produce the group advantage like the women's team.
For example, in the men's doubles competition, the Korean combination Zhao Dacheng/Li Shangzhu defeated Ma Long/Wang Chuqin and Liang Jingkun/Lin Gaoyuan in the national table tennis men's doubles.
When the 33-year-old Ma Long is already playing against the 15-year-old young European player Leburn, it seems to always remind the national table tennis men's team of the importance of cultivating new players.