Reporter: The Chinese national team has won all the gold and the silver medals. Besides that, what do you think are the biggest achievments?
Cai: There are 2 major achievements. First, the players are much stronger
mentally. In the past, our players did not play well at critical points
of the matches, or when they were behind. I asked them to study Kim Taek
Soo, and learn from him how to persevere and have a strong will to win.
We can all see that in this tournament we came from behind to win a lot
of matches. For example, Ma against Waldner, and Liu and Kong in doubles.
We are especially happy about the toughness of the young players, like
Li Nan and Zhang Yingying; they were not afraid to play the top players.
Second, so many of our young players have played well, especially from
our women's team. These young women excelled in mental strength, techniques
and styles, and played much more like the men. You can see that from the
match between Zhang Yining and Li Ju.
R: There are people who say that the Ma-Liu final was fixed because the team wants Liu to have the Grand Slam. Please comment.
C: First I want to positively state that the match was real and not fixed. We could all see that the match was very exciting and well-played. I think the reason why some people felt that way (that the match was fixed) was because the TV announcer repeatedly emphazised that if Liu won he would be the first Grand Slam champion from China. That probably misled the audience a little. I let them play the match, and whoever hesitated or choked would lose. At the end, Liu was tougher and won the title. In the 5th game, Ma got soft, and lost the mental game.
R: For the first time in many years, we have 2 penholders in the finals. Does this signify the revival of that style?
C: In this tournament, our penholders played extremely well. Although it is hard to say whether that style is back, we can conclude that they have made major progress. At present, all the other countries are focused on developing shakehand players. Even Korea is doing that. Only China has not given up on the development of the penholder style. In addition, through research, we have revamped and improved it, and added the reverse backhand to strengthen the ability to rally from that side. From statistical analyses, we found that when Ma and Liu are playing extended rallies against the likes of Waldner or Kong, they were not at any disadvantage. This is excellent news to penholders, since that style is very finely textured, and has many variations.
R: The Ma-Waldner match was considered the most exciting match in the tournament. Can you comment on what went on in that match?
C: This match showed that Ma has a strong fighting spirit. When things were tough, and his techniques and strategies were inferior to his opponent's, he still believed in himself, and climbed back a point at a time. In this match, he did not use the strategy that was prepared prior, but he modified it according to what happened on the court. This tells us that Ma is intelligent. But Waldner also made a mistake: he did not think out his strategy clearly, and when he was ahead 16-11 in the 3rd game, he was already thinking about how to play Liu in the final. This little mental mistake gave Ma the opportunity to come back. After the match Waldner admitted that he thought he had the match won when he was ahead, and started to think about the next match. But he also praised Ma for playing so well when he was behind.
R: In this tournament Wang Liqin did not play up to his level. Will you still use him in important situations?
C: Wang lost because he was thinking too much. Before the tournament, the media picked him to win the title. He is still young: he could not control what he is thinking. During a match, if you think too much about what happens later, you would have too heavy a burden to fully play to your capabilities, and you may not be able to play aggressively. Another problem is that Wang did not adjust well. He needs to learn that from Ma Lin. One tournament does not prove much. We cannot make a negative conclusion about a player from just one match: this is very unfair to the player. We will still give Wang opportunities, and test him.
R: Please comment on how the 4 players from Guandong province played.
C: There were 4 players from Guandong, about the most from any province. Ma Lin has proved himself. At this young age, he has already accomplished so much technically and mentally; that is very unusual. But he needs to strengthen himself more, from a psychological standpoint. Liu Guozheng is all-round and strong. He lost to Primorac in 5 games, but not because of techniques. In the 5 games he only lost a few points total. This is acceptable performance. Tan Ruiwu has to strengthen himself physically: he was not powerful enough, and sometimes could not finish a point. But he and Leung Chu-Yan (from Hong Kong) were a pleasant surprise: they beat Waldner/Persson. Ding Ying was average; it was a good experience for her to play in a major tournament.
R: What problems will China face in next year's Worlds Team?
C: The women's team should not face any threats. The overseas Chinese are not a threat any more. Our young players have developed, and there are only one or two player from Korea or Taiwan who are top players. The men's threats are still from Europe. We have an advantage: we have a collection of good players, and the other countries are much thinner in talents. France and Sweden will do their best to challenge us, but if we play to our level, then we should not have trouble winning the 2 titles.