Can Chinese men's table tennis "marginal players" make a comeback and participate in the Paris Olympics?Achieved the treble at the Asian Championships
The 2023 Asian Table Tennis Championships recently concluded, with the Chinese team winning 7 gold medals. Lin Gaoyuan won three championships in men's team, men's doubles, and mixed doubles, and performed excellently in the doubles event. As one of the main players in Chinese men's table tennis, Lin Gaoyuan has always been lukewarm and unpopular, and at one point even carried the reputation of being an expert in civil war and an outsider in foreign competitions. The new pairing of this year's Asian Championships, Lin Gaoyuan, fulfilled his mission and seized a crucial moment in preparing for the Paris Olympics. Can this Chinese men's table tennis "peripheral" win himself a spot in the Paris Olympics?
In this year's Asian Championships, Lin Gaoyuan participated in four events: men's team, men's singles, men's doubles, and mixed doubles, which greatly tested his physical fitness. Especially on the final day, he participated in the men's doubles semi-finals in the morning, followed by the mixed doubles and men's doubles finals in the afternoon, with almost no time for breathing adjustments. Under heavy pressure, he performed steadily and successfully passed the levels.
The mixed doubles champion still holds considerable value. As an Olympic event, the mixed doubles gold medal is highly valued by all teams. Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha, who ranked first in the world in the mixed doubles event, did not participate. The Chinese team sent two new pairs of Lin Gaoyuan/Wang Yidi and Liang Jingkun/Qian Tianyi to compete.
Although mixed doubles partners have been constantly changing, Lin Gaoyuan's performance is stable and more mature. Previously, he won the All Championships with Wang Manyu, the Direct Championship with Chen Xingtong, and now he has won the Asian Championships with Wang Yidi. He successfully avenged Zhang Benzhi and, although not in singles, the challenge of mixed doubles is also very valuable in the competition.
Lin Gaoyuan has a strong sense of agility when playing basketball, and his angles and landing points are quite tricky, especially adept at leveraging his strength. "The King of Civil War" is an affirmation of Lin Gaoyuan's abilities, but it also exposes his shortcomings. His lack of psychological qualities and practical experience makes his foreign combat achievements not as strong. The competition among Chinese table tennis players and the performance of athletes in external matches are very important indicators to measure.
It was not easy for Lin Gaoyuan to walk all the way to where he is today. "Since I was young, when coaches picked players, I was left with no one to pick." Lin Gaoyuan also felt that while training with his teammates, "the feeling of playing basketball on his own cannot be compared to that of a talented teammate." In the national team, he trained diligently, transforming from a quasi main player to a main player, which once burdened him with a mental burden. His mentality of worrying about gains and losses led to ups and downs in the game.
At present, the competition for the Olympic lineup of Chinese men's table tennis is very fierce. Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin were the most popular Mesozoic generation and were almost considered candidates to participate in the Paris Olympics. However, in this year's Asian Championships, Ma Long has become increasingly strong and won the men's singles championship, showing no signs of retiring from the second tier. Wang Chuqin was defeated by Japanese player Yuki Tanaka, ranked 73rd in the world, and was eliminated from the men's singles round of 64, which surprised people. Although Liang Jingkun only won one gold medal in the men's team event, he performed steadily in the team event. He lost to Fan Zhendong in the semi-finals of the men's singles, and his performance was not inferior. In terms of the number of championships, Lin Gaoyuan is a big winner, but in the competition of the main team, it is still difficult to say that he has full confidence.
From the arrangement of Lin Gaoyuan by the coaching staff at this year's Asian Championships, it is not ruled out that he will be regarded as a unique player in doubles. Previously, Xu Xin from the Chinese men's table tennis team was known as the king of doubles, but now Lin Gaoyuan also has a hint of taking over from Xu Xin. If Lin Gaoyuan can compete for the third place in the men's team at the Paris Olympics with his doubles results, he will have a turning point.
The Asian Games will soon follow the Asian Championships, and Lin Gaoyuan will compete in the men's team, men's doubles, and mixed doubles events. The men's doubles will be paired with Liang Jingkun, which will also be an important exam.
Chinese table tennis team head coach Li Jun summarized the current Asian Championships by saying that both the Asian Games and the Asian Championships are our training for the Olympics. We must make every competition solid and treat it as the Olympics. At the same time, we will also select the final candidate to complete the Olympics through these competitions, which is also very important.
