Ma Long interviews, matches and beyond

Higher and higher you chase it
It's deep in your bones, go and take it
This is your moment, now is your time
Happy birthday, Ma Long!


On his 31st birthday on Oct 20, Ma Long updated his Sina Weibo, "Time flyes and I get one year older. The past year was not frittered away. I've experienced a lot and grown a lot. I still feel young with your companionships and supports, my family and fans. I hope I will see you more often on the court. To spread the spirits of the sport."
He also continued his birthday charity.


As a tradition, our fans club also raised enough fund to build the third Project Hope Happy Sports Playground named after Ma Long as a birthday gift to him.
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Which is more surprising
1. Ma Long has new hair style
2. Ma Long has had surgery on left knee
3. Ma Long has started training


The baby is Chen Qi's daughter.

Table Tennis World Magazine Nov Issue Star Q&A
Q: When do you go to bed every day? Do you stay up late?
Ma Long: 11:30 pm-12 am
Q: What is the last thing that you do before sleep?
Ma Long: Read a book or listen to Xiangsheng (traditional Chinese comedy shows)
Q: Which is less acceptable? Hair loss or weight gain when getting older?
Ma Long: One can do hair transplant and lose weight to solve these problems. It is not likely that I will gain a lot of weight. If it happens, I am sure I can lose weight since I am disciplined.
Q: Which is better, being strong or being loved?
Ma Long: Being strong

2019 Team World Cup is about to start!
Ma Long practiced doubles pairing with Xu Xin.
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In the press conference of 2019 Team World Cup, Ma Long said, "I'm happy to visit Japan for the third time this year. The stadium is the same one for 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and I am looking forward to the best performance from myself and from Team China. We will fight to defend the champion." "I have played Japan Open many times and only in this stadium I won. Therefore I hope it will bring luck to me and Team China. We are making thorough preparations to get familiar with the stadium, including lighting, table, size of the stadium."
Team China will play group stage with Chinese Taipei and Nigeria.

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Congratulations to Team China to win the 8th consecutive Team World Cup champion (10 in total)! This is also Ma Long's 24th world champion title.

During the tournament, Ma Long played doubles at the group stage. He severed as practice partner and "assistant coach" (by Qin Zhijian).
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The results are
Nov 6, Team China 3-0 Team Nigeria (group match 1)

Ma Long / Lin Gaoyuan 3-1 Olajide Omotayo / Bode Aboidun (11:4, 11:5, 6:11, 11:9)
Liang Jingkun 3-0 Quadri Aruna (11:9, 11:7, 11:5)
Lin Gaoyuan 3-0 Olajide Omotayo (11:3, 11:4, 11:7)


Team China 3-0 Chinese Taipei (group match 2)
Ma Long / Xu Xin 3-0 Liao Cheng-Ting / Chen Chien-An (11:4, 11:7, 11:3)
Fan Zhendong 3-1 Lin Yun-Ju (11:4, 8:11, 11:8, 11:3)
Xu Xin 3-0 Chen Chien-An (11:3, 11:2, 11:6)

Nov 7, Team China 3-0 Team USA (QF)
Xu Xin / Liang Jingkun 3-0 Yijun Feng / Kai Zhang (11:5, 11:5, 11:0).
Fan Zhendong 3-0 Kanak Jha (11:3, 11:5, 11:5)
Liang Jingkun 3-0 Zhang Kai (11:3, 11:5, 11:3)


Nov 9, Team China 3-0 Team Japan (SF)
Xu Xin / Liang Jingkun 3-0 Koki Niwa / Maharu Yoshimura (11:6, 11:6, 11:6)
Fan Zhendong 3-0 Tomokazu Harimoto (11:7, 11:4, 13:11)
Xu Xin 3-1 Maharu Yoshimura (11:9, 11:5, 6:11, 11:1)

Nov 10, Team China 3-1 Team Korea Republic (F)
Xu Xin / Liang Jingkun 2-3 Lee Sangsu / Jeoung Youngsik (8:11, 4:11, 12:10, 11:7, 12:10)
Fan Zhendong 3-0 Jang Woojin (11:8, 11:8, 11:9)
Third set: Jingkun 3-2 Jeoung Youngsik (11:9, 8:11, 10:12, 15:13, 11:8)
Fan Zhendong 3-0 Lee Sangsu (11:8, 11:4, 11:8)

In the post-match interview, head coach Qin Zhijian said Ma Long's comeback in this tournament is very important and morale-boosting as he is a leader and a glue person for the team. To prepare for 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, they will have strategic plan for Ma Long to play certain tournaments.

After 2019 Team World Cup, Ma Long updated his Sina Weibo and said, "The power of team".
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He will not attend Austrian Open as planned. According to T2 Diamond and ITTF source, he will attend T2 Singapore and men's World Cup later this month.

In the press conference, head coach Qin Zhijian answered the question why Ma Long only played at group stage. "Media and fans are asking about Ma Long. It is important that he came back to the team, adjusted to the tournament and completed the mission. We have many strong players in the team and we give other young players opportunities to play at major events to make them more responsible." He also mentioned that Ma Long was like an assistant coach during the final, telling teammates what to focus on and predicting the responses from opponents.

CTTA president Liu Guoliang told journalists, "A while ago, Ma Long suffered from injuries. He was very brave and very responsible to make all the efforts to recover. Outsiders don't understand what he has pulled through. Only a few people witnessed. I think it is the inner power (to make it happen). Now he is back to good form. After two-month absence from the court, his confidence built up quickly after the group matches. We coach team now are trying to arrange the attendance of core players, not to prevent them from losing but to prevent any injuries. We also need to keep them in competitive form to prepare for 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games."

Ma Long will not attend T2 Diamond Singapore.
According to Table Tennis World Magazine, Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Liu Shiwen requested not to attend T2 Diamond and Wang Chuqin was suspended for his misconduct during Austrian Open. Head coach Qin Zhijian, "The current major goal for Ma Long is to prepare for men's World Cup. After two-month intense schedule, Fan Zhendong requested a break to prepare for men's World Cup and maintain good form. Since T2 Diamond is league match, not part of Team China's evaluation for Olympic Games, the coach team agree and approve their requests."

Nov 24, Sunday, a break day for Team China. CTTA president Liu Guoliang checked in the training center to see which players may not take the break and found that only Ma Long was in, practising with head coach Qin Zhijian. Liu Guoliang said, "It's not terrifying to know there are geniuses. It's terrifying to know that they work even harder than you!"
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When Ma Long became World Junior Singles Champion, some 15 years ago!
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Ma Long interview with China Daily Sports (likely after 2019 WTTC)


Table tennis is an interactive sport. Since I became a pro player and joined Team China, my passion for table tennis grew stronger and stronger. It is indispensable in my life.
Table tennis is a forerunner of sports in China. For competitive sports, the first step is to achieve good results.
(In 2015 Suzhou WTTC, Ma Long won his first World Singles Champion.)I was very happy and very proud of myself. It was a breakthrough for me to win such a prestigious title.
I didn't cruise through 2016 Rio Olympic Games. I knew it not easy to play against Jeoung Young-sik. But I didn't expect those many difficulties. It was a very difficult situation. 0-2 down. I felt lost. Coach Liu Guoliang asked me if I had spare jersey to change. I said yes. He said let's go get changed. I recalled that he said one sentence after I changed jersey. "When you enter the court, regard it as 0-0". I think it was the turning point. I experienced leading then got caught up. In the final against Zhang Jike, I got the chance to go for Grand Slam. In each match my mindset was different. No matter what my mindset was, no matter who my opponent was, I learnt and gained if I won each match. Before winning the champion, I might dream about what would happen if I won. But after winning the champion, I felt calm and natural.
(Since Aug 2018, Ma Long was absent from international tournament for 7 months.)The biggest challenge is that I didn't know when I could recover. I started to think negatively: will the injury be a crossroad of my career? It'll affect many tournaments this year, then it'll affect 2020 Olympic Games. As long as my passion remains, it doesn't matter even if I could not play for a year or two due to injury. I'll highly regard myself if I eventually come back. I tried to think more positively.History will be rewritten. People didn't expect that I won World Champion for the third time. It means more to me that people rethink of table tennis and rethink of me.
I am very proud to see National Flag raising. Every time I get goosebumps. The crowds are up. Sing National Anthem together. It feels fresh every time.
A good player will never give up easily on the court. All the hard work and efforts on regular days are for victories during matches and to test oneself.How many fights can one have in one's life? (Rong Guotuan quotes) I want to pass such great spirits from my predecessors to successors.
Better myself and make people assured when I am on the court. Be a spiritual leader. Do my best.
I am still in the game. I still have chance before I put my racket down.

At fans meeting before 2019 men's World Cup, Ma Long said he felt so happy and lucky to come back to the court and even got excited packing luggage. He thanked fans for their continuous supports for him and other players in Team China because players have downs and frustrations now and then during their career and it is important to pull through and keep going. When asked why he looks much younger than 31 years old, he joked that his aged should not be revealed publicly. Credit goes to his parents as well as exercises and table tennis.
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20191128 CCTV Sports interview
Q: Any goal for 2019 men's World Cup?
Ma Long: I didn't set a goal. I think I am here to deliver an important message that I finally return to the court. I will play match by match.
Q: Any concern?
Ma Long: I am now worried that I may not perform well lol

On Nov 30, Ma Long beat Simon Gauzy by 4-2 (11:7, 11:8, 9:11, 11:5, 8:11, 15:13) and proceeded to the quarterfinal of 2019 Men's World Cup.
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Post-match interview
Q: Simon Gauzy is a strong opponent. How did you prepare before the match?
#MaLong: I haven't played many times with Simon Gauzy. I watched some of his matches. He is very talented and a strong European player. I didn't work on analyzing his play but getting myself into the game. I haven't played international tournament for quite a while and my comeback tournament, Men's World Cup, is an important one. So I have to be patient.
Q: What's the difference between Men's World Cup and World Tour?
Ma Long: Men's World Cup is more important than World Tour. Every player will make all the efforts to fight.
Q: The first match was intense. Will it help your later match?
Ma Long: It helped build up my confidence. There were many deuce in the match and it was not easy for me to win at the end. A good test for my mindset rather than the techniques.


Ma Long beat Dimitrij Ovtcharov by 4-1 (6:11, 11:9, 11:4, 13:11, 11:3) and proceeded to the semifinal of 2019 Men's World Cup in which he will face Tomokazu Harimoto.
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Post-match interview:
Q: You beat Dimitrij Ovtcharov in all 16 encounters since the first one in 2009. What's the reason?
Ma Long: I don't pay much attention to how many times we played and I get fully prepared for the next encounter. I feel Dimitrij Ovtcharov tries out new technical and tactical changes and variations every time. He did very well in the first game today. I lost that game because I still used the old and familiar strategy.
Q: In the fourth game, you were 1:7, 2:9 down, what technical and tactical changes did you make to turn it around?
Ma Long: I didn't make much change but I didn't give up. Leading 9:2, my opponent's focus might turn to the fifth game because normally he could take that game. His mindset started to change as I was catching up. It's the turning point of the match.
Q: How will you prepare next?
Ma Long: No matter who I will face, I hope I can keep calm and patient like today. Play one match by another. I won't expect that I can play as smoothly as when I was in good form. I will try to focus on the match.

On Dec 1, Ma Long lost to Tomokazu Harimoto by 2-4 (6:11, 9:11, 8:11, 11:8, 11:4, 5:11) in the semifinal of 2019 Men's World Cup. He will face Lin Yun-ju in the brozen medal match.


From the conversation with Coach Qin Zhijian during time-outs in the match, Ma Long was still bothered by injuries.


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Post-match interview
Q: Please comment on the match.
Ma Long: I didn't play well today. 0-3 down, it was quite hard to catch up.
Q: Your form was improving from the third game and you caught up two games.
Ma Long: I had some chances in the first three games but I didn't grasp them. When I attacked, the placements were not quite effective and got blocked by the opponent. 0-3 down was a hard situation.
Q: You mentioned that your form is not back to the best. What adjustments will you make?
Ma Long: From many aspects. Physical conditions, techniques, feelings about the tournament. All have to be re-gathered not only by training but also by matches. Confidence and feeling of the game have to be rebuilt.
Q: What changes do you find in Tomokazu Harimoto since China Open's encounter?
Ma Long: I think he keeps the strong desire for victory and he tries out new strategies every time.


He also said that the quality of his shots and control did not match his expectations. Too many unforced errors costed himself a difficult situation.

Although pushing to the decider, Ma Long lost to Lin Yun-ju by 3-4 (4:11, 11:13, 11:8, 11:9, 8:11, 11:5, 4:11) and ended up the 4th place at 2019 Men's World Cup.
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During this tournament, he told the coach, my right leg doesn't support. The coach told him, don't run if you feel uncomfortable. The left knee after surgery is still covered by bandage.
Not all comeback is easy. Such miracle as Ma Long's comeback earlier this year doesn't happen often.
Be patient. Keep going!
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Ma Long is appointed as Chair of CTTA Athletes' Commission.
On Nov 29, CTTA held a board meeting in Chengdu and announced 10 new commissions including Athletes' Commission, Coaches' Commission, Umpires' Commission, Press Commission, International Development Commission and so on. Ma Long as Chair of CTTA Athletes' Commission and Wang Liqin as Chair of CTTA Coaches' Commission will promote and empower athletes and coaches involvement in decision-making.




Marvelous 12 Trial for 2020 Busan World Team Table Tennis Championships will be held in Shenzhen, Jan 2-5, 2020. Details TBA.