Zhang Jike Interviewed on winning WTTC 2011

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Interview translated from http://sports.cntv.cn/20110520/112190.shtml thanks to dingyibvs of the mytt forum

Q: Was shirt-ripping planned before the match?
ZJK: No, it wasn't planned at all. If Wang Hao didn't come back & the endgame wasn't
that thrilling, it most likely would have not occured.

Q: The Chinese National Team always has great leaders, LGL, KLH, MLin, ....
Who would be next? Wang Hao?
ZJK: It's me, definitely. Wang Hao? I am not sure about him.

90781076a39940dbb5f9504709aaacdc.jpg

Photo: sina.com.cn

Regarding Boll....
ZJK said that LGL told him before his match vs. Boll that defeating Boll would be the same as winning the championship, as far as what they expect to happen.

Regarding pressure....
ZJK said that he feels like he thrives under pressure, and that the more pressure there is the more incredible shots he can make.

Regarding WH forcing dueces from 5-10 down....
He said the only thing in his mind was "WH, hurry up and miss a serve!"

After winning the championship....
He said he had a dream that it was all fake, so he had to run into the restroom and poke himself with a pair of scissors to make sure that he's really awake.

On being kicked off the national team to the provincial team a few years ago....
He said that he first shaved his head bald, and planned to ask to be allowed to play in a foreign country. However, he decided against that and because he felt like he has so much to prove to all the doubters that were abound.

On being back on the national team....
He said he very much appreciated the opportunity and really treasured it.

On Ma Long....
He was always on a similar level as Ma Long, got into the CNT at about the same time and developed at a similar rate. They were both child prodigies in the 2nd team of the CNT, and his overall level was actually slightly above Ma Long's before he was sent back to the provincial team. During his two years off the CNT, Ma Long became a world champion and he was starting to get a bit scared of ML. They have different personalities, and the coaches trained them differently. With ZJK they practiced tough love, and he'd get chewed out for making mistakes. For Ma Long they adopted a more didactic approach, trying to reason things through with him. ZJK thinks that LGL's approach with him definitely worked, as the more he got chewed out they better he played.

On who will be the next leader of the CNT(from LGL to KLH to Ma Lin to WH to...?)
He said it'll definitely be him, not sure if it'll be WH after Ma Lin even. He said it's not because he's arrogant, he implied it's because of his insatiable drive. He said he liked hearing how he's the national champion after he won the national tournament, but got tired of it quickly and told others to stop calling him that, and call him world champion when he wins that. So he wins that in Moscow with the team competition, and he gets tired of that quickly as well, and now he wants to be called an Olympic champion if he wins that.

On 2012 Olympics....
It's still 15 months away, which is both near and far to him. He feels that he still needs to prove more in the upcoming competitions. The woman next to him(a reporter, seems kinda close to ZJK?) says that the most important thing for him right now is control, that he needs to control every aspect of himself better. ZJK has been nicknamed ZangAo(this wild breed of Tibetan dog) and she says that their wild nature, like ZJK's, can be self destructive if not controlled. ZJK agrees and says that if he could control himself, he should have a pretty good chance at the London Olympics.

Conclusion...
He hopes to perform well in China Superleague, which begins 5/29th.
 
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Dude ZJK is a legend, I fell in love with his play the first time I saw him, love his arrogance, love his personality and love his overall aura that he gives off, ZJK FOREVER!
 
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Wiwa I see this a liitle bit different. Winning one time doesnt mean WINNING ALWAYS. I hope Ma Long will kick his ass the next time they will play against each other.
He is so arogant..... holy ****
All top 10 chinese players have or had (Ma Lin/ Wang Liqin) the same potential like Zhang. They are so good that they all beat each other and there is no dominance player in China.
In the last warm up tournament Yan An won against Zhang and at the English Open Zhang lost against a Top 100 player and this will happen again!
Unfortunatly I cant deny that he is a very good/consistent / powerful player with an amazing backhand flick
 
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@BollForte
I know what you mean, but I don't think this victory is a happy accident for him. This has been coming for a long time, in the past months Zhang has performed unbelievably strong. Of course he can have worse moments, but just judging from his game I think he is capable of more than any of the other Chinese players. Especially because is backhand is insanely good as well.
 
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Yes he is a bit arrogant but I kinda like that in him. He doesnt beat around the bush, what he says is based on his performance. In my opinion he can say that. What if he said Wang Hao would be captain, the interviewer would say 'but you beat him'. I totally like his playing style, he can accelerate from any position even when the ball is almost out of his reach and he lost his balance. That is something I think I've hardly seen in any other players. Of course that is in his best form.
 
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Yosan +1
@Wiwa: It's good that we have all different opinions otherwise this forum will not exist ;)
But all in all we all want the same: Seeing good table tennis, rooting for his star or idol and playing good table tennis by oneself :D
Ur absolutely right :) Some debate every now and then isn't bad is it haha ;) I'm a big fan of him so obviously my opinion will be coloured. Like u say everyone has their own stars.
 
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Lol imagine what would it have been like if he moved to represent another country. It would have taken him more time to get to his prime, but for the books it would have sort of ended the Chinese dominance.

nah, if he went to another country he wouldn't be the same player. Part of table tennis is born talent, but an even bigger part is the coaching and training, and if he wasn't in China, he wouldn't be receiving the elite level training that he did to make him good.
 
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Wiwa I see this a liitle bit different. Winning one time doesnt mean WINNING ALWAYS. I hope Ma Long will kick his ass the next time they will play against each other.
He is so arogant..... holy ****
All top 10 chinese players have or had (Ma Lin/ Wang Liqin) the same potential like Zhang. They are so good that they all beat each other and there is no dominance player in China.
In the last warm up tournament Yan An won against Zhang and at the English Open Zhang lost against a Top 100 player and this will happen again!
Unfortunatly I cant deny that he is a very good/consistent / powerful player with an amazing backhand flick

I think part of his arrogance, at least from this interview, is a result of bad translation. Chinese in general never tend to be that blunt, especially sport stars who tend to be less well spoken.

Aside from playing badly against Ma Long, Zhang Jike actually does really well against the rest of the Chinese players. He beats Ma Lin and Xu Xin a lot easier than his other fellow Chinese players. And while he has trouble with WLQ at times, he still wins more than loses. And same is true with him against Wang Hao.

Ma Long seems to have trouble against Xu Xin and Wang Hao. And maybe ZJK in the future. We haven't really seen the two play since Ma Long has kind of gotten back in form.
 
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Love ZJK I think for him winning the WTTC was awesome, and having the ambition to always move on to something greater is what should drive us all, I hope he does well at Olympics. DESPITE me liking him I must say it is pretty arrogant for him to say he will lead the CNT when there is so much more experience from other members of the team, he has won a WTTC and a China Open. Wang Hao has won a WTTC and a World Cup and VW Cup, so it's not really ZJK's place to be vague on what will become of Wang Hao, he is still an incredible tt player.
 
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I think when he is this arrogant, in actual fact is that he's putting more pressure on himself to perform better in the future. Otherwise he'll be eating his words. Now he knows that he has to deliver, and that will make him work harder. But then again, the rest of the chinese team was laughing coz they probably know that Zhang was taking the mickey.
But then again, Muhammad Ali was arrogant....................
 
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Funny, I was thinking of Muhmannad Ali as well, as far as arrogance. Ali had a better show though. He was very funny and he made his opponents so mad that they did what he wanted them to and came at him which is where he was best: total comedy.

I think that Zhang Jike has the best backhand technique out there, by far. He has amazing footwork and speed. His forehand has improved so much in the last 6 months. He still has a little trouble turning from his backhand to his forehand sometimes but he gets so much power from his legs into his strokes that it is outrageous. The technique he is using that makes his game is his backhand attacks in short game. I think this is where the game is going, but nobody can really do what he is doing with the backhand to the same extent yet. His serves, his third ball attacks and his return of serves are better than anyone else. It is hard to beat that. And he is a very smart player. Will he become like Wang Liqin was when nobody could beat him. I doubt it. But I think he may become the person who wins more than anyone else for the next few years.
 
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Absolutely Carl, credit should be given when credit is due..he is an outstanding player. I believe it's easy to be a champion in one big tourney, but maintaining that performance year in year out when all the other players out there will be gunning for you, is a whole different thing.
 
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Funny, I was thinking of Muhmannad Ali as well, as far as arrogance. Ali had a better show though. He was very funny and he made his opponents so mad that they did what he wanted them to and came at him which is where he was best: total comedy.

I think that Zhang Jike has the best backhand technique out there, by far. He has amazing footwork and speed. His forehand has improved so much in the last 6 months. He still has a little trouble turning from his backhand to his forehand sometimes but he gets so much power from his legs into his strokes that it is outrageous. The technique he is using that makes his game is his backhand attacks in short game. I think this is where the game is going, but nobody can really do what he is doing with the backhand to the same extent yet. His serves, his third ball attacks and his return of serves are better than anyone else. It is hard to beat that. And he is a very smart player. Will he become like Wang Liqin was when nobody could beat him. I doubt it. But I think he may become the person who wins more than anyone else for the next few years.

Yeah, I totally agree. His backhand has reached a new level for table tennis. If he keeps improving he will be insanely hard to beat, because his short game is so good for a shakehand player.

Who knows who will appear in the next year or two though. I think Zhou Yu might be a monster once he gets enough training from the A team in China.
 
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Nice interview :D
LOL at ZJK when he went to the toilet and poked himself haha
It seems he is a bit arrogant though (according to the 2nd question). Still, he is a great player and his backhand flip perfectly match with mine ;)

I understand what you are saying about being arrogant but I would call it confident. You need to be confident to be a leader and a little arrogance comes with it.
 
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