Ma Long interviews, matches and beyond

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In the warm-up match against Liang Jingkun on May 13, Ma Long had a great start of 7:1 in the first set. Liang Jingkun quickly came back and led two sets. Ma Long was not satisfied with his performance: "I had very high expectation of myself and made a thorough plan. In the match, the opponent would not make me feel comfortable as I wished. My high expectation somehow turned into high pressure. I put too much focus on the details as a perfectionist. I did not play well in the first two sets. But in the later sets, I played better and better. In the last set, I was close to my best form."
Post-match interview:
Full match:

Ma Long/Yu Ziyang played a great match against Xu Xin/Fan Zhendong.
Full match:
 
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On May 14, Ma Long lost to Zhou Yu by 2:4 (11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 7-11, 3-11, 7-11) in his last warm-up match.
Ma Long said after the match, "I think it is most important to recognize the challenges in the new cycle. There are more challenges than those I faced in the past 1-2 years. That's the first lesson I've learned from the warm-up matches. Some problems are also revealed about my form and some techniques, which is worthy of reviews and discussions."
He returned to Beijing with the men's team and will leave for Luxembourg on May 20.
Post-match interview:
Full match:
 
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May 4 is China's Youth Day. Ma Long is honored "2017 Positive and Virtuous Youth of Professionalism and Dedication". He is the only male athlete among 100 awardees nationwide.

Li-Ning Sport also regards Ma Long as "Virtuous Youth" who is of cultivation, of impact, of passion and of tactics.
In this video, Ma Long invites people to work out and demos dumbbells, cable station, battle rope and so on.

It says "积健为雄" on Ma Long's new SIGG water bottle and tee. The logo is designed by Ma Long himself and fulfilled by Li-Ning.
The phrase "积健为雄" is from a literary study back in the Tang Dynasty. It means that strengths are built from daily exercises, or many a little makes a mickle in general.
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At the National Training Center, Ma Long told BTV that he has to keep fighting spirits in the upcoming WTTC.
Ma Long: "In men's table tennis, no one can claim the title with a clear-cut advantage. Only great performance or extraordinary performance can increase the chance to be the champion. I think it is unlikely to win if one plays at his normal level. I hope I can have a relaxed state of mind and have fighting spirits as other players."
 
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A "dragonfruit" (the nickname of Ma Long fans) girl shares her story of losing 20 kilograms within half a year as she follows Ma Long to work out and to better herself.
If you love her story, please vote for her to make her meet Ma Long in person in Düsseldorf.
Here is the vote by ITTF (Click the photo of Ma Long)
https://apester.com/media/5924eeebbe3db6a6300acfb0

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5.20 is a Valentine's Day in China because number 520 sounds like "I love you." On his departure for Europe, Ma Long said, "I wish my fans a happy May 20. I feel happy if they are happy." and Ma Long fans told the reporter, "It is most important to us that Ma Long is happy."

For the upcoming WTTC, Ma Long felt nervous at the departure, "I just told them (teammates) that I am feeling quite nervous today. I am not sure whether it is because there are so many fans and media watching us or it is because the major tournaments are around the corner. I feel nervous even though we are just about to leave."
For his neat hairstyle, he said, "I just want to be a little bit sharper on the court (with this hairstyle)."
For the goal of WTTC, he said, "So far, I have not set a clear goal for myself. At this stage, I want to experience and enjoy the matches. Of course, I will not be totally relaxing during the matches. I hope I can try to experience something new in the new Olympic cycle which I have not been able to experience previously."



He seemed to have a good mood and played with Wang Hao's son before departure.
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Before going to the training hall, Ma Long played mini table tennis with Liu Guoliang and Xu Xin at the lobby of the hotel in Düsseldorf.
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Before heading for Europe, Ma Long and Ma Lin were interviewed with CCTV.
Ma Long commented on his defeat at ATTC, "Generally speaking, it is pretty good if a player can win the champions in 20% of the tournaments he attends per year because of the intense competition in table tennis. In the past 2 years, I won the champions in over 50% of the tournaments I attended each year. That may explain why people are so surprised by my defeat, especially to a foreign player. But people can understand my situation."
Ma Lin, the new coach of Ma Long, hoped Ma Long to be more creative if he wants to go further. "From internal matches to major tournaments, Ma Long is very serious about every match and every stroke. I can see the essence of the best players from him. However, his seriousness may limit creative and agile performance to some extent. If he is too cautious, he will be out of creativity and will not exert all his characteristics to make it beyond imagination. He has already reached a peak after becoming the Grand Slam winner. But if he wants to reach even higher, it won't be possible unless he makes use of every single cell of his body."
To get used to the new ball, Ma Long said, "On one hand, I need to increase the strength of the stroke. The old ball is more spiny. I can change the spins and the rhythms to give my opponent a hard time, which are weakened somehow by the new ball. Now the game is more about strength. I need to make some adjustments to my playing style. On the other hand, I need to adjust my mindset. In the previous Olympic cycle, I was pretty tense and was never satisfied, and I made it. In the new Olympic cycle, if I continue like that, my body, my form and new competitions may not allow me to achieve a result as good as that of the previous cycle. Everyone may need some time to adjust. I think I need to adjust some of my mindset."
 
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Hope all of you have a great time so far watching 2017 WTTC.
Here are some recent interviews with Ma Long.
Ma Long and Timo Boll had not practiced doubles until the day of their first match. After the first victory over the Hungarian pair, when asked "Which is better, Timo Boll's Chinese or your English?", Ma Long joked, "Not as good as our Arabic." Well, they use English to communicate.
After the second victory over the Indian pair, they will face Xu Xin/Fan Zhendong which is a big challenge. For singles match, Ma Long wants to cherish every opportunity of playing.
 
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Ma Long's 6th journey of WTTC is just thrilling and amazing. Too many moments to memorize and here are just some.

Kissing St. Bride Vase for the 2nd time
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Sharing the National Flag immediately with the rival/teammate as he did in Rio Olympic Games
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Celebration after the craziest match he ever played
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Bandage on the left ankle which he twsited in R32
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Upset after the loss of doubles with Timo Boll
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Photo with our club members and banner flag
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Local supporters with our banners
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An injection on May 19 before he headed for Europe. Watching comedy show to distract himself from the pain
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