Chinanews.com, Beijing, January 25th (Liu Xingchen) The Spring Festival holiday is halfway through, and many table tennis fans must have chosen to go to the theater to watch "The Jedi Counterattack of Chinese Table Tennis".

Young people are eager to witness the struggle history of the older generation of Guoping people, and those who have really experienced that story are still fresh in their memories.

　　The movie "Chinese Ping Pong: Jedi Counterattack" is based on the story of the national table tennis men's team in the early 1990s.

Faced with internal and external doubts, the head coach insisted on drastic reforms, and the unpopular "New Five Men's Table Tennis Tigers" played their respective advantages, and finally staged a Jedi counterattack in the 1995 Tianjin World Table Tennis Championships and won the Swaythling Cup again.

Screenshot of the Weibo video of the movie "Chinese Ping Pong: Jedi Counterattack"

　　In the memory of many old fans, the 1995 World Table Tennis Championships is a milestone in the history of Chinese table tennis.

Do you know the story that happened that year?

　　In that competition, the Chinese table tennis team won all seven championships.

And to do this was not easy at the time.

Before the game, Chinese men's table tennis was in a low period.

darkest hour

　　In 1988, the Chinese men's table tennis team was defeated in the Seoul Olympics, and the "low period" also followed.

In 1991, Chiba World Table Tennis Championships created the lowest team score in history, the Chinese men's singles missed the gold medal in the Barcelona Olympics, and the team was weak...

　　Cai Zhenhua, who was the head coach of men's table tennis at the time, also talked about the bitter memory of the poor performance, "It is said in the world that it will take at least ten years for the Chinese men's team to stand up again."

　　During that time, the Swedish men's team achieved three consecutive World Table Tennis Championships and created the "Swedish Era" in the world table tennis world.

　　Ma Wenge, the technical director and prototype of this film, also said with emotion, "We were under a lot of pressure when we lost, and we have not won this (World Table Tennis Championships Men's Team) championship in six years since the third."

　　It was in this adversity that the World Table Tennis Championships came to Tianjin.

　　In order to reverse the unfavorable situation, the coaching staff headed by Cai Zhenhua decided to form a "new army", and the "Five Tigers of National Table Tennis" came into being: Ma Wenge, Wang Tao, Ding Song, Liu Guoliang, Kong Linghui.

Data map: In 1995, the 43rd World Table Tennis Championships was held in Tianjin in May. The Chinese team won all seven championships for the second time after the 1981 World Table Tennis Championships.

The picture shows that on May 12 of that year, the rookie Liu Guoliang eliminated the Swedish star Waldner.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Mao Jianjun (pictured and edited by Xu Xiyi)

hard work

　　However, how easy is it to return to the top from the bottom?

Quoting a sentence describing the "Five Tigers of National Ping Pong" in the trailer of the movie "Chinese Ping Pong: The Jedi Strikes Back": the injured are injured, the blind are blind, the small are small, and the old are old.

　　The team's number one star, Ma Wenge, was plagued by injuries, and his condition was not as good as before; the veteran Wang Tao was no longer at the best age for the game; and Liu Guoliang, Kong Linghui and others were still young players who lacked experience in major competitions.

　　Even though the road ahead is full of thorns, the national table tennis men's team, which has fallen into a trough, has already made up its mind: to fight a turnaround.

　　In order to be able to shorten the gap with the strong European teams in a short period of time, the national table tennis men's team went abroad to participate in the European Open many times. While adapting to the technical and tactical styles of European players, they learned from them to enrich their own style of play.

Huang Biao, the team leader at the time, recalled, "At that time, the coaching staff headed by Director Cai focused on how to turn around, and carried out technical and daily management work."

Data map: Swedish star Waldner in the game.

　　The team members sweating on the table tennis table are extremely firm in their hearts.

They dare to face the trough and face the challenge. In the face of suffering, their desire for victory has turned into an obsession.

　　In the midst of battle, the National Table Tennis Men's Team waited for the opportunity to fight at home.

Jedi strikes back

　　In May 1995, the 43rd World Table Tennis Championships officially opened in Tianjin.

The national table tennis men's team has only one goal: to re-attack the championship.

　　After going all the way to the finals, waiting in front of the "National Table Tennis Five Tigers" was the Swedish men's team that was the champion at that time.

　　In the final duel, the famous player Waldner defeated Ma Wenge and Wang Tao and helped the Swedish team take the lead.

At this time, the national table tennis player Ding Song played well, and he helped the team equalize the score.

In the deciding game, Wang Tao swept Persson 2:0, and the National Table Tennis Men's Team took home the Swaythling Cup after an absence of 6 years.

　　After successfully scoring the last point, Wang Tao threw his racket into the air and fell to the ground unable to hide his tears.

The players threw Cai Zhenhua high into the air, enjoying the hard-won victory.

Image source: Weibo video screenshot of the movie "Chinese Ping Pong: The Jedi Strikes Back"

　　"The audience was full. We have worked hard for 6 years, and we have suffered for 6 years. Before the final, everyone is full of confidence!" Ma Wenge, the current head coach of Tianjin Men's Table Tennis Team, narrated the scene at that time.

　　After the century war, the national table tennis men's team got out of the trough and gradually secured its dominance.

In the 1995 World Table Tennis Championships, the Chinese table tennis team sent 29 players to participate in all seven events.

In addition to the team competition, the national table tennis players also won the semi-finals of the men's and women's singles.

　　When the five-star red flag was rising, Tianjin World Table Tennis Championships became a fond memory of a generation.

Perhaps many people really fell in love with table tennis, fell in love with national table tennis, also began with that passionate story.

(Finish)