If Fan Zhendong wins Olympic gold, this can be a seminal moment not just for himself or for China, but also for Wang Hao.

[travelt123]

With WCQ out and FZD now the favorite to win gold and the only Chinese player left in Men's Singles, this can really be a seminal moment.

Yes, FZD will be a grand slam player and China will have gold in men's singles, but the person who will be the most proud would be Wang Hao. Here's why.

If you remember Wang Hao as a player, we all remember him as someone who made it to the final of the Olympics three times but always ended up with a Silver Medal. First time in 2004, he lost to a very aggressive Ryu Seung Min(WH definitely played very timidly which led to far too many openings for RSM to attack). Second time in 2008, he lost to a very tactical Ma Lin. Third time, he lost to a very spirited Zhang Jike.

With no all-Chinese final happening now that WCQ is out, WH will now be coaching FZD until the very last match FZD plays in singles, including the final. Since WH wasn't able to win the gold medal as a player, he will have another chance of trying to experience the feeling of winning gold as a coach through FZD's victory. This can be a moment of pride for WH as people have always known him as an Olympic silver medallist as a player but soon people will remember him as an Olympic gold medallist as a coach.

The victory can also be personal as FZD was also WH's protegee(both of them once had the same coach, Wu Jingping) and it's like WH coaching himself and giving all the wisdom he experienced during those three losses in the finals to FZD.

This seminal moment can happen as long as FZD doesn't stumble in any of his remaining matches, which are going to be really difficult with really tough opponents like Harimoto, LYJ, Felix, Truls(who beat WCQ), and even Hugo. But, the one advantage FZD has over WCQ is experiencing the glory days of Team China and making it to an Olympic final, which can help him win.

 

[carrot468]

Surely would be an emotional moment. FZD is one of my favorite players.

 

[Federal_Agent]

FZD will be champion... Hugo 2°

 

[enoxzr]

I really hope FZD - Felix Lebrun semi-final will happen.

If FZD can tame the French fans who will be giving it all for Felix, he is a very strong favourite in the final, for whoever he meets from the other side.

We can only hope that Wang Hao's curse doesn't carry forward to FZD and they both will be granted the win.

 

[Tembel]

I really hope FZD - Felix Lebrun semi-final will happen.

If FZD can tame the French fans who will be giving it all for Felix, he is a very strong favourite in the final, for whoever he meets from the other side.

We can only hope that Wang Hao's curse doesn't carry forward to FZD and they both will be granted the win.

It would be better for the sport if we finally would have a non-chinese player winning a final though ...

 

[ck1407]

It would be better for the sport if we finally would have a non-chinese player winning a final though ...

Hugo is the man for the job, hugo fzd finals will result in amazing rallies

 

[NetProphet]

With WCQ out and FZD now the favorite to win gold and the only Chinese player left in Men's Singles, this can really be a seminal moment.

Yes, FZD will be a grand slam player and China will have gold in men's singles, but the person who will be the most proud would be Wang Hao. Here's why.

If you remember Wang Hao as a player, we all remember him as someone who made it to the final of the Olympics three times but always ended up with a Silver Medal. First time in 2004, he lost to a very aggressive Ryu Seung Min(WH definitely played very timidly which led to far too many openings for RSM to attack). Second time in 2008, he lost to a very tactical Ma Lin. Third time, he lost to a very spirited Zhang Jike.

With no all-Chinese final happening now that WCQ is out, WH will now be coaching FZD until the very last match FZD plays in singles, including the final. Since WH wasn't able to win the gold medal as a player, he will have another chance of trying to experience the feeling of winning gold as a coach through FZD's victory. This can be a moment of pride for WH as people have always known him as an Olympic silver medallist as a player but soon people will remember him as an Olympic gold medallist as a coach.

The victory can also be personal as FZD was also WH's protegee(both of them once had the same coach, Wu Jingping) and it's like WH coaching himself and giving all the wisdom he experienced during those three losses in the finals to FZD.

This seminal moment can happen as long as FZD doesn't stumble in any of his remaining matches, which are going to be really difficult with really tough opponents like Harimoto, LYJ, Felix, Truls(who beat WCQ), and even Hugo. But, the one advantage FZD has over WCQ is experiencing the glory days of Team China and making it to an Olympic final, which can help him win.

If Fan gets to the final he should go without a coach 😉

 

[Gtsnake]

Winning as a player is a whole lot different than winning as a coach. The player is the one hitting all the balls while the coach can only strategize and clap.

 

[Gtsnake]

Completely agree. I think the word you were trying to say is "entitlement".

 

[NetProphet]

I wouldn't agree with any of that. The best player will win it, if it Fan Zhendong then so be it, it's up to the others to beat him.
But you say empowerment of the Chinese. This almost suggests that someone else is giving them power. If they continue to be the best then that just what it is, they are better.
But Chinese domination can also be seen as their absolute love of and incredible dedication to this sport. It is that which has kept it alive and well and it is the chase that the others must give that has raised the game to where it is today.
I'll be delighted if someone raises their game to the level that beats FZD or SYS, that would be amazing to watch.
But equally if they continue to play at a level that sees them win then I'll enjoy that also. Either way it's great TT!

 

[Newbiee]

If the final is Truls and FZD, I'm betting on Truls, he's on fire! The game against WCQ was crazy, very good reflex and tops

 

[NetProphet]

1. That was my 2nd reply to you, not my 1st.
2. That was your second time saying 'please not China, it's too boring and all the same'.
3. I see now that you jumped straight to perceiving it as me calling you a China hater, even though I didn't call you a China hater, even when all you were writing was 'no God no not another Chinese player!'.
My suggestion of a problem was more towards lack of appreciation for the big dog when the underdog doesn't succeed, which I thought was clear from my first msg "Chinese domination can also be seen as their absolute love of and incredible dedication to this sport" bla bla bla.

Anyway......

 

[Newbiee]

3. I see now that you jumped straight to perceiving it as me calling you a China hater, even though I didn't call you a China hater, even when all you were writing was 'no God no not another Chinese player!'.

As i said, you supposed/asked that... That was my problem with you here... My problem wasn't with your opposing opinion to mine, I even agreed with you about the best player should win.

 

[Newbiee]

Right now I'm just really curious to see what will happen between FZD and Lebrun. It certainly will be quite a game.

FZD beat him.

 

[carrot468]

FZD beat him.

One never know until it happens. Refer to 2004 finals.

 

[Newbiee]

It would be great to see the xu xin against felix lebrun, that would be a very interesting match. Unfortunately this is something will not happen ☹️

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I deleted a bunch of posts. I am not doing this because of anyone. As I see it, there was an issue with communication and I am not going to say anyone was at fault. I think, perhaps, one of the biggest issues, seems to be that Newbiee may be writing in a language that is not his native language or may even be using a translator. So, some stuff was misunderstood and taken the wrong way.

There were some good points in what was removed from this thread. I am sorry about that. The information about how the guys who really excel in TT work really hard to get to those levels is worthwhile. There was more. But it seems that one small comment caused this thread to go off on a big tangent.

But perhaps, it can go back to the original intent of the thread now.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Wang Hao was one of my favorite players,
His failure in 3 OG is going to be a record.
His not so success with CNT Men's team is also evident.... its just the wrong era to lead CNT as I believe they will only become weaker, and not stronger.

There is also many gold medal winning - coaches, who never won singles gold medal in OG before.
FZD does have the upper hand in the final tomorrow, but the undefeated era has arrived.
just a decade ago, it is almost impossible to even 1 game off CNT players.
Now how many have CNT mens dropped in Paris?

 

[GlennChu]

Not just for FZD and WH, but also for their coach Wu Jingping.
Wu is one of the best coaches ever in China(in my personal perspective, not one of the best, but THE best).
His pupils include MaLin, WangHao, XuXin, ChenQi(though Chen did not stay in his group for long) and FZD. He changed MaLin from from long pips to inverted rubber on both sides with RPB，updated WH's RPB to the highest level ever, found and trained FZD from a talented boy to the best player of the world with most advanced technique.
Before Paris Olympics 2024, none of them became a grand slam player, although ML WH XX and FZD are all great table tennis players and won lots of titles. Finally FZD, the last well known student of Wu Jingping got the grand slam title and made his and Wu's dream come true.

 

[longle]

Not just for FZD and WH, but also for their coach Wu Jingping.
Wu is one of the best coaches ever in China(in my personal perspective, not one of the best, but THE best).
His pupils include MaLin, WangHao, XuXin, ChenQi(though Chen did not stay in his group for long) and FZD. He changed MaLin from from long pips to inverted rubber on both sides with RPB，updated WH's RPB to the highest level ever, found and trained FZD from a talented boy to the best player of the world with most advanced technique.
Before Paris Olympics 2024, none of them became a grand slam player, although ML WH XX and FZD are all great table tennis players and won lots of titles. Finally FZD, the last well known student of Wu Jingping got the grand slam title and made his and Wu's dream come true.

my favorite coach too, my pen hold techniques are almost learnt from his tutorials