(This article, published in the December 2000 edition of Table Tennis World, is an excerpt of the speech given by Li Furong to the coaches of the national team on November 16. The entire coaching staff was reorganized in November.)
After Atlanta, the Chinese Table-Tennis Team once again captured all the gold medals in Sydney. This could be considered a miracle, and all of us involved with table-tennis should feel proud. All the coaches here have made great contributions.
Whether a team is successful or not depends a lot on its coaches. One coach leads a group of players, and a group of coaches will advance a whole sport. Having a coaching team that is motivated and willing to develop new techniques is a key reason why the Chinese table-tennis team has been successful in the last 40 years. Our sweep of the gold medals in the last two Olympics is an affirmation of the excellent work of our coaches. Our coaches, from the bottom foundation, through the provincial teams, to the national team, have not wasted the great conditions provided by our country.
Our national team has an excellent tradition: once we step down from the medals podium, we start again from zero. We immediately examine our weaknesses and our shortcomings. In any organization, regardless of how much success and how much glory it has gathered, there are potential problems and even dangers. The present problems facing our team come from its coaches. If we do not face these problems and take the proper steps, our progress will be adversely affected; this will shake the foundations of our continued success.
In the last several years, our team has done well in international competition, but our "collective focus" (or cohesiveness) has dropped. The collective focus is important in any team. Since Cai took over in 1991, you have fought hard to come back and re-establish yourselves. Even though we have won title after title, there is no end to competitive sports. The goal we are striving to achieve is not just one world title. If the collective focus of the coaches has dropped, the fighting ability of the team will be reduced. When we have got good results, are there any reduction in our aggressiveness, our respect for the job and our teamwork? I hope everyone will consider this issue. This team focus is related to everyone of you. We have to think about whether there is any responsibility that we have missed, any problem we have not thoroughly understood, and any area that we have not done enough in. From now on, the coaches have to reinforce the communication and the flow of technical ideas among themselves. There should be at least a meeting every week to discuss techniques, and how to train the key athletes. Not only the coach in charge of a player needs to be clear about training goals, but all the other coaches, too. Every 2 weeks there should be an open meeting to bring up any and all the problems.
The fact that we won 4 gold's does not mean we have an overwhelming advantage in techniques. We won mainly of our fighting spirits. In many matches we were behind and came back. The good thing is we could fight, and would not give up when things got difficult. But it also shows that we have problems with our techniques; otherwise we would not have faced those problems.
First, there is not much new development in our serves and serve returns; we were still doing the same things. In men's and women's teams, in singles and doubles, we do not have sufficient initiative. Starting from Kong at the top, serve returns are all pushes and short placements. Very passive. If we can flip the ball a few times against short serves, we would pressure our opponents much more. In the coming winter training, we have to strengthen our over-the-table techniques, work on serves and returns, and stress attacks.
Second, compared to the top players in Europe and the rest of Asia, our power is lacking. Even though Wang Nan and Li Ju could beat everyone else, in the Olympics they did not show their power. This indicates that they have not practiced with power enough. Our men do not play with enough power. Nowadays, very few of us could hit lobs with certainty. When Waldner or Persson lobbed to us, that should be our opportunities. But then we hit a couple, and started to lose confidence.
Third, blocking should be our strength. From Rong Guotuan, Zhou Lanshun, to Jiang Jialiang, blocking had been a major weapon in winning world championships. We could not afford to be weak in blocking just because we are looping on our backhand. Without blocking, how could one stay in rallies? For a technique as important as this one, we have to make sure that we provide enough practice in our training, and our coaches have to raise the requirements. After this meeting, our coaches have to figure out how to improve this technique. We have room for improvement here, and we need to improve before the coming Worlds.
Team management is a very important issue. In today's society, we have to increase the scope of our management. Besides the training in Beijing and in our training center, we have to establish the systems for our players to compete in leagues and challenge matches. Our coaches should accompany the players, to observe and to understand how they perform in matches. This is important for the training and management of our players; we could not let them get too loose. In the past we have 3 months of winter training and 2 months of summer training, and that guaranteed sufficient training time for the players. Now we have to fit the training into the busy schedules. In the beginning, the players would not be used to this, and would feel exhausted. But we have to keep doing this, so that the players can get used to this type of "mobile" training which would be integrated effectively with formal training sessions.
Now the top players like Kong, Liu, Wang and Li have performed quite well, but they are not without faults. Our coaches cannot treat them as special people. They should be criticized more severely when there are problems. That way the discipline of the team can be improved. Our athletes have to have self respect, and we have to be stern. When our athlete do well, we share the credit. When there are problems, we share the responsibility.
Overall, this is a good team. But in the midst of medals, flowers, and applause, we have to maintain our calm and objectivity. We have to find out what are our weaknesses and how we can improve. We have to work hard to maintain our edge.
(Chung's Notes: Starting from October 30 and lasting for 2 weeks, the coaches and the players of the national team met every night to summarize the Sydney Olympics. The Table Tennis World reporters were allowed to sit in these meetings, and they made audio recordings of the proceedings. In the December issue, these reporters published transcripts of the reviews, so that readers could understand how the team objectively looked for weaknesses in the players' performances. This is a long article, and I have translated Cai's critique of Kong here. In the original article, the players also critiqued their own performances, as well as their teammates' performances. It was fascinating to see the players' and the coaches' perspectives.)
Your (Kong's) overall performance in Sydney was decidedly positive. Especially the victory over Waldner; that was very meaningful. First the Sweden-China match-up was the highest level match-up in the world, and you were fighting for our honor. Second, this gives a perfect ending to the small-ball era. The players and the coaches were very impressed with the way you played. This was not an easy victory, and it has deep implications for our team and for you as an individual. If you had lost, then we would only get three gold's. Our leaders would still view that as positive, and our fans would still support us, but the impact would be so much less.
From your first world title in 1995 to the Olympic title in Sydney, these five years have been a winding and difficult road. You are good all-round, and possess advanced techniques. Against any player and any style, you present great pressure. In singles and in doubles, you have the best results. But in every match, you had left yourself with some regret. Several times in singles you lost in the semi-finals.
I think there are several things you have to review:
First, you had a fragile and spoiled mentality. Your spirit was not strong, and you could be easily affected by external conditions. When you played a match, the racket, the rubber the glue, the fans, the court, etc. have to be all perfect. This delicate mental condition will adversely affect your performance.
Second, you are quite stubborn, or maybe even obstinate. On the things you felt you were right about, even if you were wrong, you would not listen to suggestions or criticism. This has been very difficult for us. Your personality is one that is calm externally, but fierce internally. You have a strong desire to learn and to win, and you study hard. If you could understand a criticism, you would then take it well. These are your strengths. But your stubbornness has also largely affected you. Remember when you won a world title, I still penalized you. That should have been a severe blow to you. But you still did not understand, so the penalty was useless.
In Sydney, you have solved many of your problems. In the past when you were not playing well, you would keep looking at your racket. This time you did not do that. This kind of behavior is not controllable, but is a natural reflex. This is the result of your maturity.
We said that you have all-round skills and no weaknesses. When you were good, everything is good; forehand, backhand, defense, close table, mid table, there is no weakness. However, when you were not playing well, a single weakness would impact your whole game. Take the 45th Worlds, for instance. Your first backhand return of loops was weak, and that could not be compensated by any change in tactics or strategies. In Sydney, you played with great emotion and strong spirits. There were 3 matches that left me with deep impressions: the doubles match against Blaszczyk/Tomas, and the singles against Persson and Waldner. Against Waldner and Persson you did not possess any technical advantage. If it were in the past, those would have been very difficult matches. But this time you showed your perseverance, even despite your foot injury. This was based on your strong belief that you would win.
Before the tournament I felt that you had the best hopes of winning. That was based on your abilities and your preparation. This gold medal means a lot: it has what you have put into it, and what others have put into it. I know that you will remember what others have done for you, and what others have wished for you. In the post-game interview, I had a lot of mixed feelings in my heart that were very hard to describe. We have got the 4 gold's, and have been rewarded for all the hard work. That was like a student getting full marks in an exam., or a mountaineer reaching the summit after snow-storms and avalanches along the way. My feelings were just as strong as when we won the 43rd (Tianjian) Worlds. But now that I have been through these scenarios, I was able to contain my feelings better.
Everyone said that your serve receives and your first return of loops have been much improved. I feel that the higher quality of your serves was a key to your victory. In the past when you served, you were at a disadvantage. Being able to return the first loop from your opponents well has a lubricating effect on your whole game. You made very few unforced errors, and played a world-class game.
Now that the Olympics are over, we have even higher hopes for you. You should feel responsible for winning the team title in the 46th Worlds. You have to demand more from yourself, and not needlessly lose games.You have to have a strong will, and you should not easily forgive yourself for making mistakes. The big ball will require more physical power. Your explosiveness is good, but you lack absolute power. You have injuries in your waist, your back and your shoulder. You have to treat these injuries as major issues. You have to prolong your athletic life, and maintain your high level. You and Liu are key players on our team, you have to lead.