This is true that i play for quite a long time..
I don´t have any secret but i think there are two reasons for that. First is that i was quite lucky with my body, i had only 1 big injury in my whole career ( knee operation in 1996 ), otherwise i was almost never injured. This is of course a big advantage. I remember Philou Gatien for example who didn´t have this luck and had always so much pain in his back that he had to stop…The second reason is that i love the game!! It makes so much fun , even today with 48 years old, to practice and play a good match ( and try to win it ).When the body follows, it is very exciting to try to find tactics against a strong player. To sum it up, just keep the fun and the results will follow.I play now in second Bundesliga in Bad Hamm, and this is good for me. I don´t have any other project regarding playing table tennis for the moment..
Of course the Hegemony of China is clear since years now. And i would say, it is even an Asian hegemony now. Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong-Kong..are presenting more and more very talented young players on each tournnament. Table tennis is a very serious matter there and the tradition and TT schools is very effective. I think Europe and rest of the world shouldn´t try to copy them, but also to follow their own way. TT center should take a very important place , where the best coaches and some of the best players are working together. And please, let the players develop their own strength!! More and more are developing the same playing style at the moment,with the same receive ( BH flip or banana ) on each service. I don´t think this is a solution. To be on the top, every player must be different, must be the best in one part of the game.
I wish that Europe and the rest of the world could raise their level to catch up Asia. This would make TT far more interesting!! But, to be honest, it looks like TT takes the other direction.I already said that players are better and faster than in the past, this tendency will go on.And now the rules that i would change is the service rule. I am so fed up to see players who are having totally wrong services, and who are not punished by the referee, or not enough. I think this rule, not to hide or not behind body or head, is too hard to judge for the referee. And this discussions and fights at the table between players and referees are not a good image for TT. May be just BH service? This wouldn't be good for me but this could may be help table tennis.
2020 is tomorrow. So the players who are leaders in the french team today will probably be there also in 2 years: Gauzy, Lebesson, Flore, ..Flore was a long time injured but he already showed in the past ( Düsseldorf WC 2017 ) that he could be a great competitor.Of course, Stéphane Ouaiche is the choice of my heart because he is a andro player. For the next Olympiad in 2024, the motivation for the players will be huge because the games will take place in Paris.Probably Simon Gauzy will still be there, Flore also and others could also come: Robinot Alexandre, Cassin Alexandre ..Younger players may be also but it is always hard to predict. We never know how the players will develop.