Zhang Jike to win second Grand Slam in 2016?

[Alborz]

Zhang Jike really wants to win another grand slam!

I think he can do this. It is very possible for him to win at least one world cup and 3 years is not that far away from the 2016 Olympics in Rio. He will be 28 years old in 2016 which is not old at all.

what do you think?

Zhang Jike - Photo by: ITTF Facebook Page

Perhaps the younger players will overtake?

 

[Masta5]

Zhang Jike is very strong at the moment, he has proofed that at WTTC 2013, but I don't think he can do a second grand slam.
Just like you say there are many very good young chinese players who will get better and better.
Probably they will form a new generation of table tennis players and be as good as ZJK or better.

 

[Matt Hetherington]

I think it's too hard to say whether he will win the Rio games at this point in time. All things remaining as they are now then yes I think he can, but I don't think that's a likely scenario. The young players are good now, where they will be in 3 years time is hard to say. I think Jike will definitely win another World Cup, so he will have the motivating factor by 2016 to pull it off

 

[chuklebolt]

Most likely another world cup or two... hopefully 1 more WTTC by 2017, but Rio 2016 and something 2020, I'd say it's still quite far away, thus not really predictable. I'm quite sure he would still be one of the best in Rio, say the top 5 favorite to win it, but he'll be 32 by 2020... it'll be difficult for him to cope with his own decline because he rely sooo much on speed and footwork. With only one more chance to win an Olympic gold at 28... not an easy task in my opinion.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Most likely another world cup or two... hopefully 1 more WTTC by 2017, but Rio 2016 and something 2020, I'd say it's still quite far away, thus not really predictable. I'm quite sure he would still be one of the best in Rio, say the top 5 favorite to win it, but he'll be 32 by 2020... it'll be difficult for him to cope with his own decline because he rely sooo much on speed and footwork. With only one more chance to win an Olympic gold at 28... not an easy task in my opinion.

The biggest issue will also be qualifying for the singles. At the next World Championships, he will have to be ranked #1 or #2 if he wants to play in the singles, unless they change how the qualification process works for 2016. If he wants to play in 2016 Olympics, then, in the months leading up to the 2015 World Championships, he will have to play in all the World Tour events and win or place high to get his ranking high enough to ensure a spot.

 

[Alborz]

The biggest issue will also be qualifying for the singles. At the next World Championships, he will have to be ranked #1 or #2 if he wants to play in the singles, unless they change how the qualification process works for 2016. If he wants to play in 2016 Olympics, then, in the months leading up to the 2015 World Championships, he will have to play in all the World Tour events and win or place high to get his ranking high enough to ensure a spot.

good point Carl . i think if he qualify for the singles he will have good chance because he was good enough to be ranked #1 or #2 . i think qualifying is harder to win gold because there will be a new generation of chinese playes that they can overtake the older generations easily.

 

[Der_Echte]

Joo Se Hyuk will change his BH rubber to Bryce Long 1.2 and totally throw Zhang J K off track and wreck his dreams...

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Joo Se Hyuk will change his BH rubber to Bryce Long 1.2 and totally throw Zhang J K off track and wreck his dreams...

hahahaha lol Nice one.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

good point Carl . i think if he qualify for the singles he will have good chance because he was good enough to be ranked #1 or #2 . i think qualifying is harder to win gold because there will be a new generation of chinese playes that they can overtake the older generations easily.

I think this will be the issue. How will the younger generation do as they come up. Especially Fan Zhendong and Yan An, and, of course, there will probably be new players on the horizon who have not surfaced yet.

 

[pingpingpongpong]

well... we saw how Yan An succumbed to Wang Hao...

ZHANG jk can pull another grand slam.... and will join ZHANG yining in the double grand slam club haha

 

[chuklebolt]

Good point Carl.... We've all witnessed how streaky ZJK is so he'll have to perform like a beast in the pro tours as well for the sake of his ranking

 

[gregor07]

He absolutely can win a second grand slam.We all saw how he is superior to other players.He is mentally and technically(especially backhand and ball placement ) many steps ahead.In critic moments he never makes easy mistakes.I am a Ma Long fan but I must say Ma Long will never beat him in a world championships or olympics.So sad...

 

[PhilipRJ]

I can easily imagine that he wins the Olympics in 2016, but it is just impossible to say.
There are so many young talents in China. It depends on who the Chinese coach at that time (probably Liu Guoliang) gives the chance.
There are only allowed two players from each country in the singles at the Olympics. So it is not in Zhang Jike’s own hands. The only thing he can do is continue to play better than all the other great Chinese players, ALSO in the “small tournaments”. He has to be more consistent.

 

[Filip]

Funny how we are only talking about the other chinese who he would might lose to. Let's not forget that in Rio there will only be two chinese players and before they meet each other in the final, they have to win many matches. The most difficult match for Zhang in London was against Vladi, not Wang Hao.

 

[WiWa]

He has never ever in his life lost a single match in any major tournament. Why wouldn't we expect him to continue that run

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

He has never ever in his life lost a single match in any major tournament. Why wouldn't we expect him to continue that run

I thought about this. Is World Cup a major tournament? Because, in the fall before the 2011 World Championships he lost to Wang Hao in the finals of the World Cup. But, he has not lost a match in the Olympics and World Championships ever. That is for sure. And they are really much bigger tournaments than the World Cup.

 

[Alborz]

Funny how we are only talking about the other chinese who he would might lose to. Let's not forget that in Rio there will only be two chinese players and before they meet each other in the final, they have to win many matches. The most difficult match for Zhang in London was against Vladi, not Wang Hao.

his main issue will be ranking #1 or #2 after 2015 WTTC because for qualify for Olympic games and at that time the next generation of chinese will be very strong so maybe he wont can qualify for OG.

I can easily imagine that he wins the Olympics in 2016, but it is just impossible to say.
There are so many young talents in China. It depends on who the Chinese coach at that time (probably Liu Guoliang) gives the chance.
There are only allowed two players from each country in the singles at the Olympics. So it is not in Zhang Jike’s own hands. The only thing he can do is continue to play better than all the other great Chinese players, ALSO in the “small tournaments”. He has to be more consistent.

qualifying for OG is in his own hands . he must be rank #1 or #2 after 2015 WTTC to qualify .

 

[WiWa]

I thought about this. Is World Cup a major tournament? Because, in the fall before the 2011 World Championships he lost to Wang Hao in the finals of the World Cup. But, he has not lost a match in the Olympics and World Championships ever. That is for sure. And they are really much bigger tournaments than the World Cup.

Ah u are right, he lost the World Cup final 2011 to Wang Hao. World Cup is a major indeed, so I was wrong

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Ah u are right, he lost the World Cup final 2011 to Wang Hao. World Cup is a major indeed, so I was wrong

I think it was 2010. I think, one year later, he beat Wang Hao in the World Cup final. That was after the 2011 WTTC. He is still the man, winning on his first entrance to the WTTC, winning the World Cup after that, winning Olympic Gold after that, and winning his second WTTC 2 years after winning his first. Hard to compare. Nobody else has done that or even come close.