Does this even mean anything? Do you know the reason they fake their age, and in what age?
Those clips are crucial because they match up with the age/age group worked out from the news coverage, photos, and prospectus of the amateur tournaments in which he played a few years before joining the sports school in 2006, the first step to becoming a pro.
Most if not all cadet and junior tournaments in China are structured such that events are separated by age. Since there's a
cut-off age by which one must make the cut, some players find the need to change their age or are urged by their coaches to buy themselves some extra time, sometimes even before they fall behind to be "on the same starting line". Most choose to do it when they are in sports schools and provincial teams(see previous link), before they become registered players of the CTTA and ITTF to gain international exposure.
Basically, there are multiple ways for fans/outsiders to validate/invalidate the age of a certain player, which can be categorized into 2 types.
Circumstantial evidence:
Past tournaments, bone age tests, news coverage, CTTA registration, junior training camps...etc. Many players are flagged this way by cross-referencing and looking for any discrepancies.
Direct evidence:
Personal info, posts, and dialogs on social media sites, interactions with fans on personal live streams...etc. Surprisingly, many put in their real DOB on social media sites. Some celebrate their birthdays on their true DOB. Some outright admit it and come clean on live streams when asked.
https://sports.163.com/13/0609/18/90US2RAS00051CAQ.html
名宿谈国内乒乓球队员改年龄 福原爱妈妈曾抱怨
2013-06-09 18:28:51 来源: 网易体育
“福原爱的妈妈曾找许绍发抱怨过中国球员改年龄的问题。她的女儿六岁就来中国打过比赛，那时候她就都拿小本子记下来了和福原爱打球的球员的打法、胜负和年龄等情况，可是过了几年这些运动员几乎全都比福原爱小了。”
在结束了东北站的全部比赛之后，“谁是球王”中国乒乓球民间争霸赛在六月转战秦皇岛进行华北站比赛。前中国乒乓球世界冠军，乒坛名宿许绍发亲临现场对选手进行点评指导，在开赛前接受记者采访的时候，许老表达了对中国乒乓球的一点担忧——乒乓球运动员中改小年龄现象严重。
许绍发认为中国乒乓球运动员普遍改年龄的原因主要在于编制有限。他说：“各体育专业队编制就那么几个，你走一个我才能进一个，要不饭钱没地方发，工资没地方发了，甚至没地方住了”
“很多改年龄的情况都是这样的，你先进队了，你俩差不多年龄，我没希望了，那我就改两岁，等机会吧。”许老这样分析。
许绍发表达了对这样做法的担忧：“但（这样的做法）又把别人压死了，这是不公平的比赛，别看小孩就差两岁，但是打球的线路就不一样，长相也不一样。我以前搞过U17的比赛，后来就不敢搞了，为什么呢，因为我就发现那些德国小孩，天天吃牛肉，长得比我们还小。而我们的队员胳膊那么粗，腿那么粗”许绍发风趣的一番话中透出了对这种现象的无奈。
福原爱的妈妈还曾经找许绍发抱怨过中国球员改年龄的问题。福原爱妈妈说自己的女儿六岁就来中国打过比赛，那时候她就都拿小本子记下来了和福原爱打球的球员的打法、胜负和年龄等情况，可是过了几年这些运动员几乎全都比福原爱小了。
Famous player talks about age-altering of domestic table tennis players, Ai Fukuhara's mother once complained
2013-06-09 18:28:51 Source: Netease Sports
"Ai Fukuhara's mother once approached Xu Shaofa to complain about the issue of age-altering of Chinese players. Her daughter came to China to compete at the age of six. At that time, she took a small notebook and jotted down the styles of the players who played with Fukuhara, wins/losses and age etc., but after a few years almost all of these players were younger than Fukuhara."
After finishing all the competitions at the Northeast leg, the "Who is the King of Table Tennis" Chinese Table Tennis Folk Championships moved to Qinhuangdao for the North China leg in June. Former Chinese table tennis world champion, Xu Shaofa, a famous table tennis player, came to the scene to comment and guide the players. When interviewed by reporters before commencing, Old Xu expressed his concerns about Chinese table tennis - the practice of age-altering among table tennis players is severe.
Xu Shaofa believes that limited quota is the main reason for age-altering commonly seen among Chinese table tennis players. "There are only a few professional sports teams. One has to move out before another one gets to move in, or else there is no place to pay for food, no place to pay wages, or even a place to live."
"A lot of cases are like the following. You have made the team first and you two are about the same age. I have no hope, then I will roll back my age by two years and wait for the opportunity," analyzed Old Xu.
Xu Shaofa expressed his concerns about this practice: "But (this practice) has crushed others to death. This is unfair competition. Do not underestimate two years of difference. The shot path is different. The looks are different as well. I used to hold U17 competitions, but then I stopped. Why? Because I found that those German kids who ate beef every day were smaller than ours. Our players had big arms and legs." Xu Shaofa's witty remarks revealed his helplessness to this practice.
Ai Fukuhara's mother once approached Xu Shaofa to complain about the issue of Chinese players altering their age. She said that her daughter came to China to compete at the age of six. At that time, she took a small notebook to write down the playing styles, wins and losses and age of the players who played with Fukuhara, but after a few years almost all of these players were younger than Fukuhara.
