Ma Long interviews, matches and beyond

On Mar 23, in the quarterfinal of men's doubles at 2018 German Open, Ma Long / Xu Xin beat Patrick Franziska / Jonathan Groth by 3-1 (11:9, 8:11, 11:3, 11:1). In the semifinal, they will face Chinese Taipei's Chuang Chih-Yuan / Chen Chien-An, 2013 World Doubles Champions.



In R32 of men's singles, Ma Long beat Maharu Yoshimura by 4-0 (11:6, 11:7, 11:5, 14:12). Tomorrow he will face Jun Mizutani who he has not played with since the semifinal at 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Looking forward to some epic rallies!





Long time no see, Rackedino!

In post-match interview with ITTF on Mar 23, Ma Long said, “It’s my first match for the Men’s Single event here, so it’s still bit tough to adapt to a good rhythm; especially now having so many balls and volunteers picking up the balls at world events. As such I have to try my best to focus myself fully into the game. Bremen is the place where I first took part in the World Championships and became World Champion, so it’s an important place for me. I’ll still have to play my game one point at a time and fight match by match as the tournament progresses.”

On Mar 24, Ma Long cruised to the next round in both doubles and singles at 2018 German Open.
In the semifinal of men's doubles, Ma Long / Xu Xin beat Chuang Chih-Yuan / Chen Chien-An with ease by 3-0 (11:6, 11:4, 11:3). In the final, they will face Korea's Jeoung Youngsik / Lee Sangsu.


In R16 of men's singles, Ma Long beat Jun Mizutani by 4-0 (11:6, 11:7, 11:9, 11:9). He now keeps a 14-0 winning record over Jun Mizutani.


In post-match interview with ITTF, Ma Long said, “I am playing the matches step by step. I think the most important thing is to focus on the match. Indeed I haven’t attended any World Tour events, including putting myself in this atmosphere, for a while. So it is crucial for me to focus on the match.” “I haven’t met Jun Mizutani since Rio 2016 Olympic Games. I think he has been improving his techniques, trying to adapt himself to the new ball. He was hoping to find some ways to initiative attacks during the match.” “I just want to have a good rest at the moment. Because for a tournament, you may have to play several matches in 2-3 days, both doubles and singles events. Some players don’t play doubles. We need to have a good rest and well adapt ourselves to the matches.”

Yesterday, while kids were waiting to meet Ma Long off the court, Timo Boll was waiting to meet Ma Long on the court, said in his interview.



Later on Mar 24, they will meet in the quarterfinal as expected. This is the first time since Feb 2015 Kuwait Open that Ma Long plays against the World Ranking #1 at the moment. Although defeated by Timo Boll in 2017 World Cup, Ma Long remains victorious over Timo Boll on his home soil. Looking forward to a big clash!

On Mar 24, Ma Long beat Timo Boll to reach the semifinal of 2018 German Open.




Ma Long had a good start in the first two games, leading 2-0 (11:7, 11:7). In the third game, he took the initial lead but Timo Boll gradually found his form and seized the chance to win by 11:8. In the fourth game, Ma Long was down 4:9. Changing to backhand serve that he seldom uses, he managed to come back by 11:9. In the fifth game, Ma Long stayed calm and positive when he was down 5:10 and made to 11:10. Then the deuces went to 15:15. Ma Long called a time-out when he led 16:15, taking a break and cooling down. He did not waste that match point after the time-out.
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In the post-match interview, Ma Long said, "I think both us played at a high level in this match. That's the case for most of our encounters, not just for this tournament, but also at World Championships and World Cup last year. We always fought till the end." "Even though I won by 4-1 today, I think it’s great that I was able to make my comeback into the game in the last 2 games. I wasn't in that much of an advantageous position as compared to the previous games. I played fairly well in the first 2 games, in the third game, I didn't manage to hold on to the opportunity when I was leading 6-3 & 7-4, and that gave Boll some breathing space."
Timo Boll also commented the match, "Unfortunately again I had a lot of problems in the first two sets. Especially with my receive, to get the ball under control when he played a topspin. From the third set on I think I played quite well. I was not eager because I lost the game, but I had my chances and couldn't use them. But from the third set on I was quite satisfied." "He is a creative guy, that's also his strength. He is reading your game and he has lots of variation in his game. This backhand serve was new to me, but I didn't have so many problems with the serve itself, but to continue - this was just the change that he wanted, to bring me a little bit out of my concentration and to give me some new difficulties."
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On Mar 25, Ma Long will face Hong Kong's Wong Chun Ting in the semifinal.

It was a long day of Mar 25 for Ma Long to play 3 spectacular matches and it is a LONG day that he claims both singles and doubles titles and becomes the most successful player at German Open. He is the first ever 5-time German Open singles winner (2007, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2018).

In the singles semifinal, Ma Long beat Wong Chun Ting by 4-2 (11:4, 13:11, 11:2, 9:11, 4:11, 11:9). The first 3 games were rather easy for Ma Long while Wong Chun Ting managed to find some answers later on. Having match points in the 6th game, similar to the 5th game in the quarterfinal against Timo Boll, he called a time-out, being determined to win that game.

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In the singles final, Ma Long beat Xu Xin by 4-1 (11:9, 9:11, 11:9, 11:9, 11:6). The first 4 games were tight while Ma Long was able to handle the crucial points better to make a 3-1 lead. Xu Xin said in the interview with ITTF that although Ma Long is not ranked World Ranking #1 at the moment, his tactics and overall capability are still the best in the world. Ma Long was happy about his victory, especially after 9-month absence from World Tour events. He overcame several difficulties and beat the current World Ranking #1 Timo Boll. He also said that he would like to learn from 37-year-old Timo Boll to be an evergreen.



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In the doubles final, Ma Long / Xu Xin beat Jeoung Youngsik / Lee Sangsu by 3-0 (11:7, 11:8, 11:9) with style. This is their 8th ITTF World Tour doubles title as a pairing, first in Germany.


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In the post-match live interview, Ma Long answered questions in English. A great improvement! "Germany is my lucky country. Bremen is my lucky city. I am very happy that I come back. Thank you everybody for supporting me! Thank you!" "Everybody knows that Xu Xin is the world's best doubles player. It's my honor that we can play together. I'm very happy that I can win the last match. I hope next time I can come back here. See you next time! Danke schön!"
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Before the matches, Coach Qin Zhijian encouraged Ma Long and Xu Xin on his Sina Weibo, "When you are off the court, look up your opponent; look for his strength and learn from him. When you are on the court, look down your opponent; search for his weakness and beat him. Experiences make you grow. Frustrations make you improve. Successes make you strong. Table tennis make you unite. Be the best of yourself." What a mentor although he is no longer in the China National Team!


Two titles claimed at the first ITTF World Tour attended in 2018, welcome back, Captain Long!

Mar 26 is China's National Campus Safety Day. As one of the spokesmen, Ma Long asks people to draw attention to campus safety and asks students to learn how to be safeguards of selves.

Ma Long appears in the new MONTBLANC commercial.
In face of uncertainty, danger and defeat, Ma Long will go on. On the way with MONTBLANC.

After German Open, both Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Timo Boll congratulated Ma Long on Sina Weibo. Dimitrij Ovtcharov said, "Legend! Congrats my friend!!". When watching the final, he joked, "Ma Long is playing not bad considering he is world number 9."


Timo Boll said, "Glückwunsch, Ma Long. Meine Heimat war wieder mal eine Reise wert für Dich."



On Mar 27, Ma Long arrived in Xiamen to start the closed training in preparation for World Team Championships.




He updated his Sina Weibo and responded to his German friends. Please check out how many emojis that he used lol. "Back to my home country. It feels like summer in Xiamen, quite cozy. Bremen is the place where my dream started 12 years ago. 12 years passed and it is still familiar to me. I am very glad to defeat the current World Ranking #1 Timo Boll. You still maintain such a high level. You are my new role model now. I feel very sorry that our former World Ranking #1 Dimitrij Ovtcharov withdrew due to injury. But he still followed our matches. I wish you a quick recovery. Let's meet in Sweden."




Ma Long became world champion for the first time in Bremen 12 years ago at World Team Championships, with Wang Liqin, Ma Lin, Wang Hao, Chen Qi and Coach Liu Guoliang.

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Leading brands are creative to mingle their products with table tennis and Ma Long. Which commercial do you like the best, Kiehl's, China Unicom, Audi or MONTBLANC?

Some nice photos at German Open





When you have too many trophies to bring home... Rossmann's Weibo account also teased Ma Long, "We are so happy. Ma Long used our ROSSMANN bag to put his trophies. Brother Long, tell us what you bought at ROSSMANN? "


According to CCTV5 viewership review released by Yutang Sports, two matches at 2018 German Open were among top 10 most-watched matches across all sports last week.The final between Ma Long and Xu Xin is ranked No.2 with a 0.61% average viewership rating and the semifinal between Ma Long and Wong Chun Ting is ranked No.5 with a 0.54% average viewership rating.

Morning training session on Mar 29. The head of General Administration of Sports Table Tennis/Badminton Center, Lei Jun was speaking.




In the afternoon, China National Team took a break and visited Xiamen Custom.

Ma Long top shots at 2018 German Open by Stiga
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Came cross Ma Long at SIGG booth at 37th Beijing International Gifts, Premium & Houseware Exhibition




Or at the newly opened ITTF Museum & China Table Tennis Museum in Shanghai