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I've translated a long interview with Fan Zhendong from 20 december 2013 so it was a time ago but still a great reportage!
Here is the article in swedish: http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/bordtennis/article18058158.ab
And here in english:
Translated by google translate and i've fixed the worst mistakes. Notice that "Fan" in swedish is "damn" in english so sometimes it will say "Damn Zhendong"
Fan Zhendong the champion of the 2013 Polish and German Open! Photo by: ITTF
China's secret: Fan Zhendong , 16
PEKING: For almost 25 years ago Sweden defeated the Great Wall of China.
The Swedish table tennis men did the impossible, defeated China 5-0 in World Championships final, which was followed by years of Swedish world domination.
But what is the sport today?
Sportbladet went round the world, from a easy gym in Stockholm at the national table tennis center in Beijing, and found two different worlds where only one thing unites the old superpowers.
Both miss the old times.
Next to me on the plane from Sweden to China is one of the world's premier sporting talents.
Fan Zhendong is sixteen years old and already a superstar in one of the biggest sports in the world.
In November he won two races in a row on the world tour (Polish and German Open), in the Swedish Open in Stockholm, he went to the finals.
In the semifinals he beat world number two Xu Xin who now sits a few rows of seats in front of us and watching movies. But in the finals came to a stop. World no. 7 sitting to the left with a large trophy that checked the cabin and called Yan An was too hard this time.
It's hard trying to understand how skilled Fan Zhendong is at playing Table Tennis. He was born in 1997 and is ranked fifth in the world in a sport that has 40 million competitive players .
When the Swedish top player Jens Lundquist would describe him to me took the words out after " amazing ", " incredible " and " prodigy " .
- Sixteen years and so good, it should not be possible. It's just impossible , said Lundquist.
When I saw Fan play in Eriksdalshallen I came to think of another table tennis genius who broke through at age 16. For just as Jan-Ove Waldner fan a game inside that makes him occasionally look quite superior out.
Relatively unknown outside China
While competitors wearing down their opponents, forcing them to switch networks or presses them to outsource so fakes Fan them completely over again. Tucked Orientation were expected to be diagonal instead go straight - smash cars that should be straight slants table. At times he comes off , maybe he plays too hard , but when the game is flowing , it is a pure pleasure to watch.
Although there are Fan Zhendong not very well known outside of China.
His name is not on Wikipedia in any Western language .
Personally, I had not heard of him before I started to immerse myself in the context of this story.
Why is it so?
One reason why his name has not spread more is that he's just starting his career. Another is said to be that table tennis interest if we stick to Sweden, has dropped drastically over the past decade.
A third reason could be that the Fan is not done as many interviews, especially with foreign journalists. The Chinese national team players have always been tightly controlled the media, but this time it's for some reason clear.
Perhaps, China is opening up a bit here?
- I have not got used to the interviews. But there are many who have asked at the end , said Fan, when we start talking .
To help us, we prompt Lui who has been with the trip to Sweden. She hangs over the seat in front of us and translate into English.
Not keen to move
Are you satisfied with the tournament?
- It was okay. I wanted to obviously win but considering that it's one of my first international tournaments so I have made very significant progress.
What did you think of Sweden ?
- I really liked it , it is an interesting country with a special culture . We had a guide who turned around. The castle , the town hall ,the Vasa Museum.
Like this story?
- Yes, I used to read a lot about history, Chinese history, but now I have less time.
What period in Chinese history do you like most?
- Qing Dynasty . When China was very strong.
As strong as you are in the Table Tennis now.
- That's another thing, says Fan and laughs.
He does this even when I ask if he thought about moving overseas sometime.
- No, there's no point.
Everything you need in Beijing?
- Yes.
The first time he came to the capital , he was ten years old. Since then he stopped. He was born in twelve million inhabitants Guangzhou in southern China but moved 200 mil north to the national team table tennis training as soon as his talent was discovered.
Since then, the training required , average certainly five or six hours of games plus a number of hours of theory per day. Meet the parents, who both work in a factory in Guangzhou , he does about once a year.
Do you miss them?
- It's okay, I'm quite independent of me . It is my dream to play, then it's okay to be away from my parents.
Are you talking to them?
- I'll call them almost every day.
What advice do you get?
- They do not usually give me advice about the game. But they say eat well, sleep well, don't hurt you.
Are they proud of you?
- Yes.
Do you have a girlfriend?
- No. And if I would have it, I'd never tell you, haha.
But is there time for that?
- No, I really do not.
What do you do when you are not playing table tennis?
- You have to relax sometimes so as not to get stressed . I like to watch basketball and football on television. Real Madrid is my favorite team.
Ronaldo 's favorite player?
- Yes.
" Have a clear goal "
Sixteen year-old gives a quiet and safe impression but the answers are often short . To start the conversation , I give him a present that I bought from the Spårvägen coach Robert Svanberg during the tournament in Eriksdals Hall : Signed JO Waldner stamps .
Fan fingers at them , eyes them carefully.
- Thank you ! It's a nice gift.
Have you seen Waldner play?
- I have seen him on video from the Olympics 2000. I have great respect for him , he's very special . He is a legend in China.
He is 48 but still plays . Will you play when you're 48?
- Haha , I do not.
When I talk to the Swedes , they say that you can not possibly be as good as you do when you're 16 years old.
- Ever since I started I have been working very hard. I have a clear goal to move forward all the time. My trainer has a very good plan for me and they have a lot of experience . It is not strange for me.
You must also have a special talent?
- Maybe a little.
When was the first time that you realized that you had something special ?
- I have always been among the best at my age , it 's given me confidence.
What is your goal?
- Become the world champion and Olympic champion.
How far away is it?
- I have to improve a lot, both tactically and technically. I also have to develop me as a person, learn to be more patient , get me more knowledge about the game.
Favorite drink
- Beer
How do you tackle a final loss in Swedish open?
- It is important to evaluate what is wrong than to talk about winning or losing. The most important thing is to learn.
Fan Zhendong talking like a full-fledged sports psychologist , not as a 16 year old who jumped over large parts of the school curriculum in order to play table tennis from morning to night.
Therefore surprising answer when asked about his favorite beverage.
- Beer !
What kind?
- Chinese . German beer is too bitter for me.
You are 16 years , you get to drink?
- A little beer is okay.
Do you put out at ten o'clock in the evening every day?
- Almost always , haha.
Finally , I wonder if the Fan is ready to become one of China's most famous people, which he very likely will be within just a few years.
- Of course I am. I chose table tennis as a career , and then I will enjoy the fame. Fan pointing to their Waldner stamps .
- I will keep them as inspiration.
It looks like regular fog, but is pure poison. Smoko is so dense in Beijing during the week that I'm here it talks about record levels.
December cold has arrived and Beijing residents have started burning coal , which pollute the already dirty air even more. When it's worst you can not see more than twenty or thirty yards in front of him in broad daylight .
On the Air Quality Index scale, which measures air quality, meaning a value between 100 and 200 " very unhealthy " .
During my last night in Beijing reaches the meter 487, which is almost high enough to count as " off the scale " .
It not only looks nasty out , it feels physically . It stings the eyes, itching of the face and irritates the throat how carefully you try to breathe.
I get very very sick when I get back to Sweden .
The state newspaper Global Times manages to contrast rewrite smoggen in positive terms :
Fog is effective for defense purposes as it becomes more difficult for potential adversaries to attack or shoot from the air.
Moved from Sweden
When I meet Huang Dawei is AQI value week's lowest , that is, only " very unhealthy " . Dawei using either no masks many Beijing residents do.
- Oh, it does not matter , he says.
Dawei opens doors for me. It was he who helped me to Fan Zhendong interview on the plane over here. By Jan-Ove Waldner, I got in touch with Mats Bandstigen , president of table tennis company Rise and via Mats I got in touch with Dawei .
He is 38 years old and moved three years ago returned to Beijing after twelve seasons as table tennis players in Sweden . First two years in Malmö, then ten in Halmstad.
When he grows old he will move back to Sweden , he says , but before that he should pursue a career and earn money.
As a Swedish speaking Chinese with his background in table tennis was Dawei cut out for the role of general manager when Stiga would open its Beijing Department in 2010.
It is good for the company in the Chinese market .
For the Swedish players have far to world top so it Eskilstuna -based company was already there. Dawei says that 70 percent of the Chinese national team players use a frame, ie the actual racket without rubber , Stiga .
Including Xu Xin and Fan Zhendong .
- Made in Sweden , said Dawei .
" Go there with your light hair and ask"
We meet on Stiga headquartered in Chaoyang, a neighborhood where new modern skyscrapers popping up out of the ground like mushrooms .
It's Dawei to be sure that we will get to visit the national team's training. Without his help we had , me and the photographer Jojje Olsson, a Swedish journalist living in Beijing , probably not got anywhere .
- Or you could try. You go there with your light hair and ask if you can come in, laughing Dawei .
The reason that Dawei is welcome depends not only on the rise- contacts. He also knows most of the coaches and the players.
Just like Fan Zhendong , he moved from his hometown and was lifted into the national team's training when he was ten years old. Dawei says that he trained every day, except some Sundays. Thursday afternoon could also be free .
- When I was little , we trained more than the national team . When we had camped and I was 13-15 years , it could be four sessions a day . Just serves between six and seven , late breakfast . Quarter past eight to half past eleven training , give food and sleep. A quarter to three to five thirty workouts. Then take a shower , eat food, and as a passport to the evening. Rock Hard everyday.
Dryers any amount
What did you think of it?
- Very good . After three or four months , we were much , much better. Are you thirteen years to keep you any amount . Would I do it now I need to rest for three days, haha.
Was it someone who wanted to quit?
- From the training? No.
Dawei says that the rules also apply to today's superstars . The best players may earn up to 20 million per year ( the biggest revenues come from the Chinese pro league) but they still live with their teammates away from the national center and is completely controlled by their coach.
- Absolutely . Some days they might be put out later than ten . One day a week , maybe two .
We sit in Daweis silver Mercedes and drive south towards the national team's training center.
I 'm excited about what lies ahead.
When I met JO Waldner in Stockholm , he told of a four-storey filled with ping-pong table , which meant that I had mental images of a " ping-pong factory ' where young players wears day and night.
But I'm not quite sure how we will be received . It is not Dawei either.
- They usually do not talk to the media , the players have to concentrate. You are foreigners , so I do not know if you can take pictures. But I'll talk to them.
We are not disappointed .
After passing through various gyms , locker rooms and offices on the bottom two floors , we will enter in the women's training hall on the third floor .
Just today there are only two players that run on their own, the rest are at a camp in Shanghai, but the view is still spectacular .
Ping-pong table as far as you can see.
Thousands balls scattered across the floor.
From the ceiling hangs a giant Chinese flag , walls filled trophy cabinet filled with trophies , over them hanging large banners with different slogans.
Dawei says they are difficult translated - they really mean just " fight " in different ways.
On the floor above are greeted by the same sight, with the difference that the training is in full swing . Many of the men's players are also in Shanghai but some are home and practice , including the Yan An and Fan Zhendong .
Working out exactly serve for hours
Dawei greets and talks with leaders who agree that we are sitting along one side .
As long as we are quiet and just shoot outside table tennis pastures , it is okay. After Fan Zhendong gone back and visit me , I notice that the other players glancing curiously at us.
But that does not mean that the exercise is easygoing. Two players , they look to be 18-20 years old , working out at the exact same serve surely in an hour.
Other running " bollådan " exercise that shocked JO Waldner in the 80s , that is, repeats the same kind in the fastest possible speed. The pace is amazing.
Damn Zhendong furthest away from us with their coach. During an hour and a quarter rubbing the backhandsmashar according to the same pattern.
Fan takes a step to the left , then a step back .
The coach sends a ball, Damn pinching to .
One step left , step back, the coach sends the ball, Damn pinching to .
Over and over again . The pace is not as high as in " bollådan " but I still expect to 25 beats per minute.
Some time interrupt the coach to point to different points on the board and show the movements of the wrist , but the fan must have knocked over a thousand identical goods before the exercise is over .
" You need to get better quickly "
After the workout, the Fans trainer , named Wu Jingping , up to us.
60 -year-old is legendary in their profession and have drilled a number of great players over the years. When Beijing staged the 2008 Olympics met two of his protégés in the Final : Ma Lin and Wang Hao.
Jingping first gives a serious impression, but seem to think it 's funny when I ask questions .
This time Dawei my interpreter .
I ask what's important to become a good table tennis player.
- Three things . The player must have good talent and love of table tennis . Then the player must fight , work hard all the time. And so the player must have a good coach who can bring out the best qualities .
How much you have to train to reach the top ?
- It is impossible to say how many hours . In China there are so many talented players that it is not enough to develop slowly . You need to get better fast all the time. You have to train all the time - it never ends.
Jingping laughing and gesturing .
- It never ends !
Are you hard as a coach ?
- No, players are not afraid of me . The training is hard , but I'm nice in person.
What makes Fan Zhendong so special?
- He fights and training hard . You do not chase him , he wants to fight . And he is a very smart player , he knows when he 'll play tactics even though he is only 16 years old.
How good can he be ?
- To become world champion for him ... it will not be difficult. I think he will be number one in the world and win everything, even the Olympics.
Dreaming back to the magical years
I ask what Jingping like Swedish table tennis today.
- Sweden has good players but they lack a good system to bring out the best . They do not train at all that we do. In the late 80 and early 90th century, Sweden was a bit better but in 1995 China won World Cup team again . There were great matches , but after China became too strong. It's a shame that Sweden is not like before.
Very true.
Even Jingping , who has been involved in making China so superior , dreaming back to those magical years when they fought against Sweden on being the best in the world.
He nods eagerly.
- It was amazing!
Here is the article in swedish: http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/bordtennis/article18058158.ab
And here in english:
Translated by google translate and i've fixed the worst mistakes. Notice that "Fan" in swedish is "damn" in english so sometimes it will say "Damn Zhendong"
Fan Zhendong the champion of the 2013 Polish and German Open! Photo by: ITTF
China's secret: Fan Zhendong , 16
PEKING: For almost 25 years ago Sweden defeated the Great Wall of China.
The Swedish table tennis men did the impossible, defeated China 5-0 in World Championships final, which was followed by years of Swedish world domination.
But what is the sport today?
Sportbladet went round the world, from a easy gym in Stockholm at the national table tennis center in Beijing, and found two different worlds where only one thing unites the old superpowers.
Both miss the old times.
Next to me on the plane from Sweden to China is one of the world's premier sporting talents.
Fan Zhendong is sixteen years old and already a superstar in one of the biggest sports in the world.
In November he won two races in a row on the world tour (Polish and German Open), in the Swedish Open in Stockholm, he went to the finals.
In the semifinals he beat world number two Xu Xin who now sits a few rows of seats in front of us and watching movies. But in the finals came to a stop. World no. 7 sitting to the left with a large trophy that checked the cabin and called Yan An was too hard this time.
It's hard trying to understand how skilled Fan Zhendong is at playing Table Tennis. He was born in 1997 and is ranked fifth in the world in a sport that has 40 million competitive players .
When the Swedish top player Jens Lundquist would describe him to me took the words out after " amazing ", " incredible " and " prodigy " .
- Sixteen years and so good, it should not be possible. It's just impossible , said Lundquist.
When I saw Fan play in Eriksdalshallen I came to think of another table tennis genius who broke through at age 16. For just as Jan-Ove Waldner fan a game inside that makes him occasionally look quite superior out.
Relatively unknown outside China
While competitors wearing down their opponents, forcing them to switch networks or presses them to outsource so fakes Fan them completely over again. Tucked Orientation were expected to be diagonal instead go straight - smash cars that should be straight slants table. At times he comes off , maybe he plays too hard , but when the game is flowing , it is a pure pleasure to watch.
Although there are Fan Zhendong not very well known outside of China.
His name is not on Wikipedia in any Western language .
Personally, I had not heard of him before I started to immerse myself in the context of this story.
Why is it so?
One reason why his name has not spread more is that he's just starting his career. Another is said to be that table tennis interest if we stick to Sweden, has dropped drastically over the past decade.
A third reason could be that the Fan is not done as many interviews, especially with foreign journalists. The Chinese national team players have always been tightly controlled the media, but this time it's for some reason clear.
Perhaps, China is opening up a bit here?
- I have not got used to the interviews. But there are many who have asked at the end , said Fan, when we start talking .
To help us, we prompt Lui who has been with the trip to Sweden. She hangs over the seat in front of us and translate into English.
Not keen to move
Are you satisfied with the tournament?
- It was okay. I wanted to obviously win but considering that it's one of my first international tournaments so I have made very significant progress.
What did you think of Sweden ?
- I really liked it , it is an interesting country with a special culture . We had a guide who turned around. The castle , the town hall ,the Vasa Museum.
Like this story?
- Yes, I used to read a lot about history, Chinese history, but now I have less time.
What period in Chinese history do you like most?
- Qing Dynasty . When China was very strong.
As strong as you are in the Table Tennis now.
- That's another thing, says Fan and laughs.
He does this even when I ask if he thought about moving overseas sometime.
- No, there's no point.
Everything you need in Beijing?
- Yes.
The first time he came to the capital , he was ten years old. Since then he stopped. He was born in twelve million inhabitants Guangzhou in southern China but moved 200 mil north to the national team table tennis training as soon as his talent was discovered.
Since then, the training required , average certainly five or six hours of games plus a number of hours of theory per day. Meet the parents, who both work in a factory in Guangzhou , he does about once a year.
Do you miss them?
- It's okay, I'm quite independent of me . It is my dream to play, then it's okay to be away from my parents.
Are you talking to them?
- I'll call them almost every day.
What advice do you get?
- They do not usually give me advice about the game. But they say eat well, sleep well, don't hurt you.
Are they proud of you?
- Yes.
Do you have a girlfriend?
- No. And if I would have it, I'd never tell you, haha.
But is there time for that?
- No, I really do not.
What do you do when you are not playing table tennis?
- You have to relax sometimes so as not to get stressed . I like to watch basketball and football on television. Real Madrid is my favorite team.
Ronaldo 's favorite player?
- Yes.
" Have a clear goal "
Sixteen year-old gives a quiet and safe impression but the answers are often short . To start the conversation , I give him a present that I bought from the Spårvägen coach Robert Svanberg during the tournament in Eriksdals Hall : Signed JO Waldner stamps .
Fan fingers at them , eyes them carefully.
- Thank you ! It's a nice gift.
Have you seen Waldner play?
- I have seen him on video from the Olympics 2000. I have great respect for him , he's very special . He is a legend in China.
He is 48 but still plays . Will you play when you're 48?
- Haha , I do not.
When I talk to the Swedes , they say that you can not possibly be as good as you do when you're 16 years old.
- Ever since I started I have been working very hard. I have a clear goal to move forward all the time. My trainer has a very good plan for me and they have a lot of experience . It is not strange for me.
You must also have a special talent?
- Maybe a little.
When was the first time that you realized that you had something special ?
- I have always been among the best at my age , it 's given me confidence.
What is your goal?
- Become the world champion and Olympic champion.
How far away is it?
- I have to improve a lot, both tactically and technically. I also have to develop me as a person, learn to be more patient , get me more knowledge about the game.
Favorite drink
- Beer
How do you tackle a final loss in Swedish open?
- It is important to evaluate what is wrong than to talk about winning or losing. The most important thing is to learn.
Fan Zhendong talking like a full-fledged sports psychologist , not as a 16 year old who jumped over large parts of the school curriculum in order to play table tennis from morning to night.
Therefore surprising answer when asked about his favorite beverage.
- Beer !
What kind?
- Chinese . German beer is too bitter for me.
You are 16 years , you get to drink?
- A little beer is okay.
Do you put out at ten o'clock in the evening every day?
- Almost always , haha.
Finally , I wonder if the Fan is ready to become one of China's most famous people, which he very likely will be within just a few years.
- Of course I am. I chose table tennis as a career , and then I will enjoy the fame. Fan pointing to their Waldner stamps .
- I will keep them as inspiration.
It looks like regular fog, but is pure poison. Smoko is so dense in Beijing during the week that I'm here it talks about record levels.
December cold has arrived and Beijing residents have started burning coal , which pollute the already dirty air even more. When it's worst you can not see more than twenty or thirty yards in front of him in broad daylight .
On the Air Quality Index scale, which measures air quality, meaning a value between 100 and 200 " very unhealthy " .
During my last night in Beijing reaches the meter 487, which is almost high enough to count as " off the scale " .
It not only looks nasty out , it feels physically . It stings the eyes, itching of the face and irritates the throat how carefully you try to breathe.
I get very very sick when I get back to Sweden .
The state newspaper Global Times manages to contrast rewrite smoggen in positive terms :
Fog is effective for defense purposes as it becomes more difficult for potential adversaries to attack or shoot from the air.
Moved from Sweden
When I meet Huang Dawei is AQI value week's lowest , that is, only " very unhealthy " . Dawei using either no masks many Beijing residents do.
- Oh, it does not matter , he says.
Dawei opens doors for me. It was he who helped me to Fan Zhendong interview on the plane over here. By Jan-Ove Waldner, I got in touch with Mats Bandstigen , president of table tennis company Rise and via Mats I got in touch with Dawei .
He is 38 years old and moved three years ago returned to Beijing after twelve seasons as table tennis players in Sweden . First two years in Malmö, then ten in Halmstad.
When he grows old he will move back to Sweden , he says , but before that he should pursue a career and earn money.
As a Swedish speaking Chinese with his background in table tennis was Dawei cut out for the role of general manager when Stiga would open its Beijing Department in 2010.
It is good for the company in the Chinese market .
For the Swedish players have far to world top so it Eskilstuna -based company was already there. Dawei says that 70 percent of the Chinese national team players use a frame, ie the actual racket without rubber , Stiga .
Including Xu Xin and Fan Zhendong .
- Made in Sweden , said Dawei .
" Go there with your light hair and ask"
We meet on Stiga headquartered in Chaoyang, a neighborhood where new modern skyscrapers popping up out of the ground like mushrooms .
It's Dawei to be sure that we will get to visit the national team's training. Without his help we had , me and the photographer Jojje Olsson, a Swedish journalist living in Beijing , probably not got anywhere .
- Or you could try. You go there with your light hair and ask if you can come in, laughing Dawei .
The reason that Dawei is welcome depends not only on the rise- contacts. He also knows most of the coaches and the players.
Just like Fan Zhendong , he moved from his hometown and was lifted into the national team's training when he was ten years old. Dawei says that he trained every day, except some Sundays. Thursday afternoon could also be free .
- When I was little , we trained more than the national team . When we had camped and I was 13-15 years , it could be four sessions a day . Just serves between six and seven , late breakfast . Quarter past eight to half past eleven training , give food and sleep. A quarter to three to five thirty workouts. Then take a shower , eat food, and as a passport to the evening. Rock Hard everyday.
Dryers any amount
What did you think of it?
- Very good . After three or four months , we were much , much better. Are you thirteen years to keep you any amount . Would I do it now I need to rest for three days, haha.
Was it someone who wanted to quit?
- From the training? No.
Dawei says that the rules also apply to today's superstars . The best players may earn up to 20 million per year ( the biggest revenues come from the Chinese pro league) but they still live with their teammates away from the national center and is completely controlled by their coach.
- Absolutely . Some days they might be put out later than ten . One day a week , maybe two .
We sit in Daweis silver Mercedes and drive south towards the national team's training center.
I 'm excited about what lies ahead.
When I met JO Waldner in Stockholm , he told of a four-storey filled with ping-pong table , which meant that I had mental images of a " ping-pong factory ' where young players wears day and night.
But I'm not quite sure how we will be received . It is not Dawei either.
- They usually do not talk to the media , the players have to concentrate. You are foreigners , so I do not know if you can take pictures. But I'll talk to them.
We are not disappointed .
After passing through various gyms , locker rooms and offices on the bottom two floors , we will enter in the women's training hall on the third floor .
Just today there are only two players that run on their own, the rest are at a camp in Shanghai, but the view is still spectacular .
Ping-pong table as far as you can see.
Thousands balls scattered across the floor.
From the ceiling hangs a giant Chinese flag , walls filled trophy cabinet filled with trophies , over them hanging large banners with different slogans.
Dawei says they are difficult translated - they really mean just " fight " in different ways.
On the floor above are greeted by the same sight, with the difference that the training is in full swing . Many of the men's players are also in Shanghai but some are home and practice , including the Yan An and Fan Zhendong .
Working out exactly serve for hours
Dawei greets and talks with leaders who agree that we are sitting along one side .
As long as we are quiet and just shoot outside table tennis pastures , it is okay. After Fan Zhendong gone back and visit me , I notice that the other players glancing curiously at us.
But that does not mean that the exercise is easygoing. Two players , they look to be 18-20 years old , working out at the exact same serve surely in an hour.
Other running " bollådan " exercise that shocked JO Waldner in the 80s , that is, repeats the same kind in the fastest possible speed. The pace is amazing.
Damn Zhendong furthest away from us with their coach. During an hour and a quarter rubbing the backhandsmashar according to the same pattern.
Fan takes a step to the left , then a step back .
The coach sends a ball, Damn pinching to .
One step left , step back, the coach sends the ball, Damn pinching to .
Over and over again . The pace is not as high as in " bollådan " but I still expect to 25 beats per minute.
Some time interrupt the coach to point to different points on the board and show the movements of the wrist , but the fan must have knocked over a thousand identical goods before the exercise is over .
" You need to get better quickly "
After the workout, the Fans trainer , named Wu Jingping , up to us.
60 -year-old is legendary in their profession and have drilled a number of great players over the years. When Beijing staged the 2008 Olympics met two of his protégés in the Final : Ma Lin and Wang Hao.
Jingping first gives a serious impression, but seem to think it 's funny when I ask questions .
This time Dawei my interpreter .
I ask what's important to become a good table tennis player.
- Three things . The player must have good talent and love of table tennis . Then the player must fight , work hard all the time. And so the player must have a good coach who can bring out the best qualities .
How much you have to train to reach the top ?
- It is impossible to say how many hours . In China there are so many talented players that it is not enough to develop slowly . You need to get better fast all the time. You have to train all the time - it never ends.
Jingping laughing and gesturing .
- It never ends !
Are you hard as a coach ?
- No, players are not afraid of me . The training is hard , but I'm nice in person.
What makes Fan Zhendong so special?
- He fights and training hard . You do not chase him , he wants to fight . And he is a very smart player , he knows when he 'll play tactics even though he is only 16 years old.
How good can he be ?
- To become world champion for him ... it will not be difficult. I think he will be number one in the world and win everything, even the Olympics.
Dreaming back to the magical years
I ask what Jingping like Swedish table tennis today.
- Sweden has good players but they lack a good system to bring out the best . They do not train at all that we do. In the late 80 and early 90th century, Sweden was a bit better but in 1995 China won World Cup team again . There were great matches , but after China became too strong. It's a shame that Sweden is not like before.
Very true.
Even Jingping , who has been involved in making China so superior , dreaming back to those magical years when they fought against Sweden on being the best in the world.
He nods eagerly.
- It was amazing!
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