Punk pink, matcha green... The table tennis racket is also enchanting

Let's take a look at the fashion "password" of top table tennis players

On the field of the 2023 Chengdu ITTF Mixed Team World Cup, in addition to watching the doorway of table tennis, the audience also pays attention to the unique temperament and personality of the athletes.

On the evening of December 12, in the second stage of the mixed team World Cup, in the women's singles match between the German team and the Swedish team, the world's No. 6 German player Shabin Winter held a matcha green racket and won the first game 50:11. "Oh, this racket is so bright." Fans found that the white table tennis ball was hit by a matcha green racket, which was matched with a stylish atmosphere.

From the color is not limited, to the red and black racket "galloping" for 37 years, and then to the lifting of the ban on racket color by the International Table Tennis Federation. With the abundance of colors, table tennis is also more diverse.

"Fashion Queen" Szokos:

Punk pink rackets with fierce ball style

Not only matcha green, but also the unique punk pink racket at the Chengdu Mixed Team World Cup also attracted a lot of attention. Romanian player Bernadette Szokos, ranked 12th in the world, is the "fashion queen" of table tennis familiar to Chengdu fans. She has a good face and a dexterous body, but her style of play is quite fierce. Every time she is on the field, she has exquisite makeup and well-matched jewelry.

This time in Chengdu, she used a punk pink racket and painted her nails pale pink. Unlike most female athletes who compete without makeup, Szokos puts on makeup before the competition. From dressing to makeup, Szokos usually takes about half an hour, and she never worries about the makeup on her face being spent in the heat of the game due to sweat. "I use professional waterproof cosmetics, and I'm not afraid to sweat." In addition to the three bracelets, there are several stud earrings. These fashion elements did not affect her agile running and aggressive attack. In the group stage on December 12, she won 5-2 against France's Pritica Pavard.

Szokos's father was a well-known local singer in Romania, and his mother was a doctor. And Szokos became a table tennis player by following in the footsteps of her brother, who is also a professional table tennis player. At the age of 7, Szokos followed his brother to the arena and began his table tennis career.

In addition to his flamboyant personality, the "serial set" phenomenon between Szokos and Chen Meng and Hina Hayada is also talked about. In the recently concluded table tennis WTT Frankfurt Championship in Germany, the national table tennis Olympic champion Chen Meng lost to Szokos 2:3. As early as last year, Szokos had already won against Chen Meng once. However, Szokos didn't go far either, soon losing to Hina Hayada 2:3 in the next round. Interestingly, at present, Szokos has lost 5 consecutive defeats against Hina Hayada without a win, and Hina Hayada has never won 6 consecutive losses to Chen Meng, and many fans jokingly call it a "serial set".

It can be used in table tennis rackets in compliance

What colors are there?

Not only female players have tried it, but also male players have begun to choose blue rackets. So, which colors can be used in table tennis rackets compliantly?

Starting in the second half of 2021, the ITTF will allow four new rubber colors to be used on the court, while also emphasizing that the racket must have one side of the rubber to use black. The newly added rubber colors are pink, purple, green, and blue. Together with the black and red colors that are now used, that is, there are six colors that appear in table tennis rubber products.

In the 2019 conference, more than 75% of the participants agreed to the multi-colored rubber solution. Thomas Victor, then president of the International Table Tennis Federation, said that this is in line with the trend of the times and can make table tennis more colorful and vibrant.

It is reported that this proposal was first put forward by the Hong Kong Table Tennis Association, China, and they were inspired by the young players to think that the color of the rubber of the racket can be used as a foil for their hair color and clothing.

Why has the red and black match of the table tennis racket not changed for 37 years?

Originated from Cai Zhenhua's "unique stunt"

In fact, the rubber color of the early table tennis racket was not mandatory, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, but because the rubber color adding process was immature at that time, the vast majority of the rubber was black.

At the 1983th World Table Tennis Championships in 37, Chinese player Cai Zhenhua used the two-sided heterogeneous rubber inverted plate of the same color to the extreme. The racket is black on both sides, with adhesive rubber on the front and anti-arc glue on the back, and the board is frequently poured when used. The performance of the rubber on both sides is opposite, and with the inverted board, Cai Zhenhua's ball path is unpredictable. The racket in his hand that flew up and down was called the "magic wand" by foreigners, and he was called the "magician", and he achieved many good results in the world competition.

Foreign players were played by Cai Zhenhua, who was black on both sides of the racket, and protested to the ITTF. In addition, because they can't understand it, the audience doesn't know why the player made a mistake, and if you change the color of both sides of the racket, the other party and the audience will understand that "it's granular glue/arc glue" and "it's anti-glue". Therefore, at the ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) during the 1983 World Table Tennis Championships, the rule that "the rubber on both sides must have different colors" was formulated, which was implemented from the following year in 1984, and the rubber was limited to red and black after that.

It wasn't until October 2021, after the end of the Tokyo 10 Olympics, that the colored rubber returned to the table.

West China Metropolis Daily-Cover News Reporter Lai Fangjie Chen Yuxiao Photo Report