China News Agency, Xinxiang, April 12th Topic: WTT Xinxiang Championship: Ma Long, who lost, is still eager to win
China News Agency reporter Hao Lingyu
At the end of the game, Ma Long shook hands with the opponent, the opponent’s coach and the referee one by one, and then walked out of the field quickly. The 34-year-old Olympic champion ended his championship journey with a slightly unexpected loss.
In the men’s singles 1/8 final match of the World Table Tennis Professional League (WTT) Xinxiang Championship that ended on the evening of the 11th, Ma Long went through four rounds of fierce fighting and finally lost to Chinese Taipei teenager Lin Yunru 1:3. In the post-match interview, Ma Long looked serious and carefully analyzed the reasons for the defeat: “There were some unnecessary mistakes in the first game. Some opportunities were not grasped in the second game.”
The national table tennis captain didn’t have much disappointment on his face when he walked out of the arena, he just pouted while chanting. Some fans believe that this is Malone replaying the game, summing up experience and lessons.
The failure was not without warning. In the first round, the world‘s fourth-ranked Ma Long and the world‘s 30th-ranked Swedish player Anton Karlberg had five rounds of hard work, and finally won with a total score of 3:2. After the game, Malone analyzed that his considerations on the court were a bit complicated, and some connections were not handled well. And Lin Yunru unexpectedly scored 3:0 in the first round, and the Nigerian player Aruna, who has been in good form recently, broke the outside world‘s doubts about his unstable performance.
Lin Yunru has beaten the national table tennis player several times in international competitions. Perhaps for this reason, Ma Long put a lot of thought into the match against Lin Yunru. After the game, Ma Long commented that he “thought too complicatedly during the game, and he hesitated in thinking.”
But Malone’s thinking on the court does not mean that he is indecisive. On the contrary, thinking about every step of the opponent is one of the reasons why Malone can achieve outstanding results. Liu Guoliang, chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association and former Ma Long’s coach, once commented that Ma Long’s tactics are like making zongzi, wrapping others airtight. This means that when making tactical preparations, Malone needs to consider the opponent’s possibility as much as possible, and needs to pay more effort.
The most indispensable thing in Ma Long is the fighting spirit and desire to win. “No matter how big or small the game is, I just want to win.” Liu Guoliang believes that this spirit is the driving force behind Ma Long’s remarkable achievements and his persistence on the field. Although as the winner of the “Table Tennis Double Lap Grand Slam”, Ma Long no longer needs more championships to prove anything, but he is still working hard to interpret his love for table tennis. He also said bluntly, I think I still love this arena, and I like the excitement of finding the final battle or the moment of victory on the arena.
This upset loss, the outside world has commented that it is the beginning of Malone’s decline. In fact, the 34-year-old is no stranger to failure. From the heavy pressure of competition within the team to the temporary absence from the game due to injuries, Malone has experienced the peaks and troughs of his career. Before the Tokyo Olympics, Malone took risks to undergo wrist and knee surgery. After a period of silence, he finally won the men’s singles championship in the Tokyo Olympics.
During his participation in the World Table Tennis Championships in Durban, the first stop of the National Table Tennis Championships, Ma Long posted on social media: “Hey, it’s been 20 years, it’s okay.” This is his sigh of the 20th anniversary of entering the national team. In the end, he won the men’s singles championship in the first through match and qualified for the men’s singles at the World Table Tennis Championships. At the Singapore Grand Slam a month ago, Ma Long defeated a group of good players and joined his teammate Fan Zhendong in the men’s singles final. With his unyielding persistence, Malone has made a good start for his 2023.
“When you are in the abyss and there is no way to retreat, there is only one way up.” Malone described his trough in this way. (over)