April 14, 2001
The 5 Team Members Speak About The Swaythling Cup
Kong: "In Kuala Lumpur, coach Cai put me in the
number 1 position and Liu Guoliang in the number 2 position
against Sweden. We understood Sweden well, had met them many
times, and had the higher winning percentage. Our team was in the
best shape at that time, but we still lost the Swaythling Cup.
That truly broke our hearts. In our closed training in Zhengding,
we all had the same common desire. We will do what our coaches
ask us to do, work hard to perfect our skills, show our abilities
and our level in Osaka, and recapture the Swaythling Cup. There
is no other way. We will not repeat the Kuala Lumpur
experience."
Liu Guoliang: "In the 5th match against Sweden in Kuala
Lumpur, I lost to Persson and that cost us the victory. For a
long time after that, I woke up every morning and my first
thought was regret. The two matches I played against Waldner and
Persson are still vivid in my mind. Even now, I still clearly
remember every shot that I did not play well, and every serve
that I did not serve well. Because of this, I think I will not
make the same mistakes in Osaka. If I face Waldner and Persson
again, I have confidence that I can beat them. Before Kuala
Lumpur, I beat Waldner 6 consecutive times. Perhaps because of
that record, I did not study Waldner's changes as thoroughly. Now
coaches Yin and Cai have worked with me continuously, and my game
has improved a lot. In Osaka, I will not let my fans down."
Wang Liqin: "In last year's international tournaments, I
had good results, thanks to my coaches. I made improvements
compared to 1999. I have kept a level mentality, and under the
guidance of my coaches, looked for weaknesses in my game. In
Zhengding, coaches Yin and Cai were very serious about my
training and my match play. They told me in great detail the
remaining problems of my game. Some of the other coaches also
worked hard with me on my style and my weaknesses so that I could
understand how to play every ball correctly and not make errors
or weak plays. In Osaka, I will have sufficient confidence to
play any opponent, and play well to exploit my strengths."
Ma Lin: "We will face challenges from many teams, and we
cannot just focus on Sweden as our only concern. Korea and France
cannot be overlooked, and we have to take Taiwan seriously.
Sweden beat us last year, so we all want our revenge against
them. But we have to play the quarters and the semis to get to
the final, and our opponents will be more than just Sweden. I
tell myself that in Osaka I will take every opponent and every
match seriously."
Liu Guozheng: "In Kuala Lumpur I played on the team for
the first time. Then the newspapers called me the "secret
weapon". In Osaka, I will be playing on the team for the
second time, and there is no more secret left. I am a bit of an
introvert, and coach Cai reminds me to get more excited on the
court. I know that I will be excited when I have a chance to
play. I think for me to do well in Osaka, I have to make
breakthroughs in my techniques, for example in serves and serve
returns, and in my first-3-shots. That way I can fully exploit my
forehand advantages. I am prepared for Osaka, and I am
confident."
Liu Guoliang's Column (Excerpted)
Hello readers of Youth Sports, I am meeting with you
again. In the 30 plus days in Zhengding, my body was in good
shape and did not slow down my training. In fact I was the only
team member that completed all the training sessions. Although my
shoulder injury is not healed, it is under control thanks to our
doctors. I have to put on some cream on my shoulder to reduce the
pain, but that did not affect my training.
I have also solved the equipment problem. Even though it is
not as good as what I had used in the small-ball era, it will not
cause any major problem. My old rubber was deemed illegal last
October, so I had to make a big change, more than just adjusting
the sponge thickness or hardness. The pips size and aspect ratio
are now different, and I had more difficulty than anybody else
with the equipment. Through the many trials and errors, I finally
found a suitable rubber. I am still not 100% satisfied, and I
will still look for an even better rubber.
Overall I am very happy with the results of the closed
training. I have found the feeling with the big ball. I have much
better control of the impact instant and location, and my serves
are much better. When I played Liu Guozheng, I scored over 10
points per game directly with my serves. My first-3-shots are as
strong as before, and I have improved on my extended rallies. In
the giant robins I won more than I lost. This has boosted my
confidence tremendously.
I will play in 4 events. Playing so many events in 2 weeks
would definitely have a bad effect on one or two events. As an
older player, I will focus on the team event, because I feel the
responsibility to regain the team title. Most likely we will face
Sweden again in the finals. I know where I stand, but we are
unsure about Waldner and Persson. We do not have recent video
footage of their playing, and we have not played them recently.
So we will have some uncertainty.
Warm-Up Tournament in Loyang
The national team, together with the Hong Kong team, play a
mock tournament, Worlds formats, in Loyang this weekend. Click here for
some photos from the tournament. The top picture shows Kong's
racket, the same one he used in the Sydney Olympics. More photos here.
Cai Vows to Recapture Swaythling Cup
At the end of the closed training, Cai issued the
order to his troops: "We must recapture the Swaythling
Cup!"
Cai said: "This is the best opportunity for our team. Ma,
Wang and Liu Guozheng are now mature. Our flexibility with
lineups will make it very tough for our opponents to prepare
against us". The team members are very confident. "We
will come back with the Cup", they said.
Several days ago, the team arranged an interesting tournament.
The Worlds squad was divided into 3 teams: Kong and Liu Guolaing,
Ma and Liu Guozheng, and Wang, Yan and Zhan. The other team
members were divided into an "Asian" team and an
"European" team, depending on their styles. The main
teams played matches with each of these two teams, with a 3-point
handicap on every game (they started every game 0-3). The end
result was the main team won every match.
Coach Yin was very happy after the tournament. "This
shows that the team is in excellent shape. The 3-point handicap
was to allow for the match experience of our opponents, and the
possibility that we do not open well. Overall I am very happy
with the performance of our Worlds team", he said.
Liu Guozheng said: "This is a new style of competition,
and we enjoy it. We can evaluate our condition, and make
adjustments. The different styles we play against are a close
simulation of what we will face in the Worlds, so it is very
effective training".
Yin is satisfied with the training results of his two
long-time students Kong and Liu. They have worked very hard after
the changes in equipment. Liu has not missed a single session of
training. "Liu will not let us down in Osaka", Yin
said. When asked whether he will let Liu play in the important
team matches, Yin answered indirectly, "I hope that the
three younger players will shoulder the responsibility and not
depend on the older players".
Even though Yin thinks very highly of his two former students,
the other players seem to favor Wang, Ma and Liu Guozheng more.
"They are more aggressive, hungrier, and more suited to the
bigger ball. Their recent results speak to that", an
unidentified player said. Another player said that Liu Guoliang
will have trouble doing well in Osaka because he does not do all
that well against his teammates.
(Chung's notes: Liu never did well against his compatriots
at home. But he was able to win the big ones: beating Wang Tao in
Atlanta, and Ma Lin in Eindhoven. I am very surprised to read
these negative comments from his fellow teammates, since Liu is
very well liked on the team.)
See how well you know the stars of our sport.
Note: Pictures here are from Table Tennis World April 2001
edition, and sina.com. Thanks.
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