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.)


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Note: Pictures here are from Table Tennis World April 2001 edition, and sina.com. Thanks.

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