2W 1M, they ruled the table tennis world for 1 decade!

[skywalker]

Wang Liqin and Ma Lin is going to retire soon, recent China Table Tennis World magazine (series 253) has an article about them and Wang Hao with the title : They ruled the TT world for 10 years!", i have translated part of the report and posted in my FB https://www.facebook.com/Skybizports.

They ruled the table tennis world for almost 10 years (2001~2010)! They are not Grand Slam in Table Tennis, however in one decade period, Wang Liqin, Wang Hao and Ma Lin, basically most of the major tournament titles were won by these 3 men, and their name appear in almost every tournament finalist. However every story will reach ending, Ma Lin (33) and Wang Liqin (35) are soon going to retire after combating each other for so many years, although Wang Hao is the youngest among them, but his age is closing to 30, with the high competition and impact from younger players like Ma Long, Zhang Jike, Xu Xin, Fang Zhendong…., time for him to stay on top may not be long.

Ma Lin – 4 times World Cup Champion, one time Olympic Single Gold medal and team member of China 6 times WTTC Men’s Team Champion and this is a record in China team. Ma Lin is a Penholder with RPB technique, nonetheless his style is still traditional “Old” China Penhold style which has been considered as old technique, and appear to be “Odd” in currently competitive arena, however Ma Lin not only survive through competition and keep China traditional Penhold be one of the strong competitor in current table tennis sports.

Wang Liqin – 3 times World Table Tennis Championships Men’s Single Champion, one time Olympic Double Gold medal. After 1965, in 40 years’ time, Wang LQ is the only player who won 3 times WTTC Single Champion, one of the achievements in contemporary table tennis. The hardworking Wang is also the benchmark and example among China teammates.
As per China’s national system and Olympic strategy, Olympic Champion always the priority than others tournament title, however according to the author opinion, the WTTC tournament will be more competitive and challenging than others.

Wang Hao – 3 times World Cup Champion, one time WTTC Men’s Single Champion, 3 times Olympic Single Silver Medal. Wang Hao carriers is up and down, after 2004 Olympic lost to RSM, he enhanced his forehand skill and became one of the best Penholder in both forehand and backhand attack. Wang Hao is the Grand Master of RPB, although the RPB techniques was not developed by him, however through his carrier of development, he has enhanced his skill in RPB techniques and brings RPB technique into a new high level.

2014, most probably we have to say farewell to Wang Liqin and Ma Lin! The world will miss their contribution to table tennis, we may not care what are there going to be after retirement, but we selfishly hope they will still contributing their skill and experience for table tennis sports.

 

[Burns]

I find it interesting that Ma Lin and Wang Hao are associated with RPH play.

And even to this day its rare to see Ma Lin use a RPH backhand, he almost always uses the push block.

Plus Wang Hao and Ma Lin play completely different styles, with Ma Lin playing much closer to traditional penhold than Wang Hao.

 

[Der_Echte]

All of these jokers are modern day TERMINATORS of TT. You draw their number in a tourney and it is almost as good as done.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I find it interesting that Ma Lin and Wang Hao are associated with RPH play.

And even to this day its rare to see Ma Lin use a RPH backhand, he almost always uses the push block.

Plus Wang Hao and Ma Lin play completely different styles, with Ma Lin playing much closer to traditional penhold than Wang Hao.

When Ma Lin attacks from BH side, he will use RPB, otherwise for blocking he will only block with TPB.
I think one thing we will all miss is Ma Lin's control, especially on the short game and his TPB chop block.

And something that no body can beat him is his fanning

 

[Burns]

When Ma Lin attacks from BH side, he will use RPB, otherwise for blocking he will only block with TPB.
I think one thing we will all miss is Ma Lin's control, especially on the short game and his TPB chop block.

And something that no body can beat him is his fanning

Yes, when he attacks from the Backhand side he will RPH, but usually I think he would rather side step and use his forehand.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Yes, when he attacks from the Backhand side he will RPH, but usually I think he would rather side step and use his forehand.

Yeah, he pivots a lot. Ma Lin has the best of both worlds, both RPB and TPB. I think that is something Wang Hao lacks, as Ma Lin has more variation when the ball comes to BH corner and using backhand stroke.

I think if only one of the 2 Wangs and 1 Ma existed, the individial will have achieved much more results.
Defiantly one of the strongest Chinese combinations (Top 3) ever.