In-depth analysis of the six points of the National Table Tennis Paris selection system Good health + pre-combat status + high points are the most important
Late last night, the Chinese Table Tennis Association announced the “Table Tennis 2024 Paris Olympic Games Selection Method” on its official website. The Olympic selection of national table tennis also follows the example of the Japanese team, and there will be rules to follow. To put it simply, the Chinese Table Tennis Association has set a time period, from May 8th this year to May 7th next year, the top three players at each level will get corresponding points, and then the two players with the highest points will compete in the Paris Olympic singles.
The China Table Tennis Association announced the Paris selection system before this year’s individual World Table Tennis Championships, intending to fundamentally solve the problem of the Olympic selection method that has plagued the national table tennis for many years. The previous confirmation method of the national table tennis team was internally determined. Judging from the actual combat results of the Olympic Games in the past 20 years, it seems that there is no big problem. However, before each Olympic Games, there are constant disputes about who should be in and who should not be in.
The overall strength and level of the Japanese team is far below that of the Chinese team, but their overall upward momentum is strong, especially the women’s team. The Olympic selection system currently being implemented by the Japan Table Tennis Association has given great inspiration to the National Table Tennis Association. National Table Tennis has newly launched a similar Olympic selection system. There must be many details that are not perfect at the beginning, but overall it is good for the first-line players, and everyone can basically compete on the same starting line.
Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the national table tennis team has followed the unspoken rule of escorting veteran players in the Olympic strategy, either explicitly or covertly. Some cases of escorting were very successful, such as Zhang Yining in 2008, Li Xiaoxia and Zhang Jike in 2016. But in many cases, the use of veterans has caused the most controversy from the outside world. Before the Tokyo Olympics, whether Ding Ning could continue to compete in singles was once the focus. Later, when he lost gold in mixed doubles at the Olympics, Guoping temporarily used the rules to replace Liu Shiwen with Wang Manyu, ensuring that the women’s team defended the title.
The new Olympic selection system of national table tennis has no preferential treatment or policy suppression for veteran players. Regardless of your age and past record, if you can show convincing results and status in the world competitions at all levels in the year before the Olympics, you can continue to play Olympic singles.
3. The singles champion of the World Table Tennis Championships may not be able to win
The Durban World Table Tennis Championships is about to start. The practice announced by the National Table Tennis Championships in the past that “the champion of the last individual World Table Tennis Championships before the Olympics will compete in the Olympic singles” will no longer exist under the new selection system. But it doesn’t mean that the Durban singles championship has no effect on the Paris lineup. After all, the singles championship has a huge score of 4,000 points.
The practice mentioned in this paragraph is essentially an explanation for why Ding Ning played in the Olympic singles and Liu Shiwen, the world‘s number one in women’s singles, failed before the 2016 Rio roster was confirmed. That is to say, the outside world needs an explanation, and the top executives of the national table tennis team just give such an explanation. Of course, using a World Table Tennis Championships champion to determine the Olympic list is not scientific in itself. The current policy is very good. The World Table Tennis Championship is very important, but not absolutely important. Whether you can go to the Olympics will depend on your overall performance in the next year.
4. Does the substitute have a chance to counterattack?
Five men and five men each participated in the Durban singles, standing in the front line of competing for Paris singles tickets. Some fans also pointed out that it is slightly good for Ma Long and Chen Meng, who did not win the championship in Houston, but not good for Houston champions Fan Zhendong and Wang Manyu. The most important aspect that everyone pays attention to is whether Liang Jingkun and Lin Gaoyuan in the men’s line, and Wang Yidi and Chen Xingtong in the women’s line have any chance to counterattack the top positions.
To seize the opportunity, the battle of Durban must first be fought well. It is not necessary to win the championship, the runner-up also has 2000 points. Now the national table tennis team has not officially announced the Asian Games list. Who will be selected for the Asian Games singles and how to select them. In addition to the newly announced Olympic selection system, the high-level national table tennis executives, how to control and control the rhythm, may largely depend on the qualifications of the main players for the competition.
Similar to the Asian Games points, there are individual World Cups and WTT Grand Slams. The individual World Cups will resume at the end of this year. From now on, you don’t need to worry about missing a single World Series when calculating Grand Slams. There can only be two players in a single World Cup. In fact, by the end of this year, after the two major competitions, which players will play in the singles in Paris will basically be decided.
5. Great challenge to Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha
This new Olympic selection system is a great challenge to the physical fitness of the 34-year-old Ma Long and the 29-year-old Chen Meng. After all, age and injuries are the biggest hurdles for veterans. But this new selection system is relatively the biggest test for the mixed doubles core Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha.
I still remember that in the last Olympic cycle, before the Olympics, Xu Xin worked as a model worker in almost every open match. Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha are basically the top singles in mixed doubles, and they also shoulder the important task of team doubles. In the next year, the two will often face third-line battles in the top open. This is what Mima Ito has complained about the most recently. There are too many trials and too many details. The multiple pressures of fatigue and injuries on players are unimaginable.
6. The world ranking is also important. The default scope is narrowed
With the new selection system, the mixed doubles world rankings on May 7 next year will determine the mixed doubles contestants. At present, there is a high probability that they will be Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha. On May 7 next year, counting the Olympic points set internally by the National Table Tennis Team, the top two players will play singles.
The China Table Tennis Association clearly stipulates that if the mixed doubles and singles quotas are determined, and there are less than 3 players in the men’s and women’s two lines, the national table tennis executives will then default on the third player according to the actual situation. If Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha want to pursue the dream of being the three gold medalists in the Paris Olympics, they will have to withstand a lot of pressure and intensity in the next year.
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