China News Service, Chengdu, September 30 (Reporter He Shaoqing) The 56th ITTF World Table Tennis Team Championships (finals) (referred to as "Chengdu World Table Tennis Team Championships") in 2022 officially kicked off in Chengdu on the 30th.
This is the sixth time that the World Table Tennis Championships have settled in China. It has been 61 years since the National Table Tennis Men's Team won the Sweislin Cup in Beijing and won China's first World Table Tennis Championships team championship.
As one of the three major table tennis events in the world, the World Table Tennis Championships, which was born in Europe, has a history of nearly 100 years.
On April 4, 1961, the 26th World Table Tennis Championships opened in Beijing Workers' Stadium. This was not only the first time that the World Table Tennis Championships had settled in China, but also the first time that China hosted a world sports event.
In the men's team final of the Beijing World Table Tennis Championships, China's first world champion Rong Guotuan shouted "How many times can you fight back in your life".
National Table Tennis won the gold medals of men's singles, women's singles and men's team, and established China's status as a "table tennis power", breaking the situation of Japan's dominance in the international table tennis arena.
Following the World Table Tennis Championships in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Suzhou, the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships is the sixth time that the National Table Tennis Team has faced off at the "home door".
The young Ma Long, who once stood beside "big brothers" Ma Lin and Wang Liqin, is now a double-lap "Grand Slam" winner and is affectionately called "Dragon Team" by fans.
On the opening day of the game, when Fan Zhendong and Liang Jingkun were training against each other, Ma Long was beside him as a scorer.
The National Table Tennis Championships will hit the World Table Tennis Championships men's team for ten consecutive championships and women's team for five consecutive championships.
According to the schedule, on October 1, the national table tennis men's team will face Puerto Rico in the first match of the group stage, and the national table tennis women's team will face the Canadian team.
Wang Hao, the coach of the national table tennis men's team, expressed the hope that the players can enter a good state as soon as possible in the group stage.
Ma Lin, the coach of the national table tennis women's team, said bluntly that every player is very excited to fight in the local area.
From 1961 to 2022, from Beijing to Chengdu, the World Table Tennis Championships witnessed the growth of national table tennis and the development of table tennis in China.
According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 83 million "folk table tennis enthusiasts" who play more than twice a week and once for more than an hour in China.
In Chengdu's city parks, community sports spaces and both sides of greenways, table tennis tables can be seen everywhere, leaving players swaying gracefully.
Liu Guoliang, Executive Vice Chairman of ITTF, Director and Chairman of the Council of WTT World Table Tennis Federation, and Chairman of China Table Tennis Association, said before the competition that he hoped that through the World Table Tennis Championships, friends from all over the world would know more about China.
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