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Ma Long interviews, matches and beyond
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In Xihua News interview, when asked about the treatment plan in Germany, Ma Long said he still has to communicate with the national team and his Super League club for the best arrangement. It has not been finalized yet.
It is said that it is Team Beijing and coach Zhang Lei who took the initiative to consult the sports medicine experts in Germany for a 4-week treatment plan. That's why he has to wait for the approval from the national team and his Super League club before leaving for Germany.
We do not know yet if he will show up in the first round of Super League on 10/31 representing his new club Tianjin Quanjian. There will be a long break between the first and second round of Super League and we hope the national team and Tianjian club will let him go for the treatment during the break.
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Core strengthening (2017/10/27)
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Ma Long · An Shan, the first eleven years
(Written by Lv Yanni, The New York Times Travel Magazine October Issue)
Ma Long won his first trophy of table tennis in the city of Anshan.
Maybe in 1995 or 1996, he did not remember the exact time. Anyways, it was within 2-3 years since he first picked up the racket. This is a typical him, who remembers clearly the matches that he lost but not those that he won. It is known that Ma Long does not want to lose any match; the concept of win and loss was established when he was in Anshan. The coach asked him to chole a lot when playing, to frighten the opponent and to cheer himself up. "I did not feel like chole-ing or shouting. The coach forced me to chole and I did very reluctantly."
He got 3 champions in Anshan in total. He recalled that one tournament was held in the stadium of the city sports school where he did his training. Besides the golden medal, he won 300 CNY in prize money. His father treated his coaches and teammates to dinner. "In a restaurant over there", we drove past the street where the city sports school used to be and Ma Long leaned onto the window, trying hard to look for the restaurant. The street name remains the same but the street view is totally different from his memory 20 years ago.
The prize money of 300 CNY was all spent on the dinner. Did you feel disappointed? "Yes."
Then how did you plan to spend that 300 CNY? "I did not know how to spend money at that time, not to mention a big money of 300 CNY." He smiled shyly.
The life of 7-or-8-year-old Ma Long was boringly simple. I shared my impression of Northeast China and Anshan with him, "I heard that every person in Northeast China knows how to hit people in a fight..." "I never hit people; I only hit balls."
Ma Long was sent to learn table tennis by his father at the age of 5. During the 6-7 years before he left Anshan at the age of 11, he had been to 3 primary schools, Gangdu Primary School on Zhonghua South Road in Center City, Shannan Primary School close to his home, and the other one in the suburb. The reason of changing primary schools was that the place of table tennis training had changed. His childhood was full of table tennis, regular school in the morning and table tennis training in the afternoon. In Anshan, the sunset time gets early and early after late September. When he finished training around 5-6 pm, it was dark outside. If his parents had time after work, they would go and pick him up; otherwise, he took the bus to go home by himself, for up to 40-min on the long route. It was freezing in the winter and one had to cover every part of the body except eyes to stay warm. "I wore my scarf to here (underneath the eyes)", he showed us how to cover the whole face.
He also told us some naughty stories. He caught a fly and put it onto a spider web; he climbed onto the willow tree outside the sports school and used the branch as a horizontal bar; he found a bag of unknown clear liquid behind the door of restroom at school and poured it into a plastic bag, as he walked the liquid spilled and burned his clothes - it was sulfuric acid.
This is all our first Full Grand Slam winner did "out of line" in Anshan during his childhood. He spent his first 11 years in this famous tough northern industrial city and not much memory seemed to last. He then went to Shenyang, more than 100 km away; a few years later, he went to Beijing. He counted the time he spent out of his hometown and found it way more than the time he spent in hometown.
As we were driving to the Memorial Hill Park, memory of this city came back to Ma Long little by little.
The Memorial Hill Park is on the north-south central axis of Anshan. Standing on the top of the Memorial Hill, we could see half of the city, covered with green trees and rows of old and new houses. It was Saturday morning and the park was not filled with people. On the playground down the stairs were a group of teenagers in sports jerseys, warming up, stretching and running, as young as the rising sun.
"Look, the world's greatest stretch." They caught Ma Long's attention. He was still in the car and kept watching them. "The world's greatest stretch" was what he called that stretching movement, very exaggeratedly yet seriously.
However, when we walked towards the stairs, towards the crowd, Ma Long had a sudden attack of shyness. The teenagers recognized him but did not dare to come close. As we were taking photos halfway up the Memorial Hill, they were talking, "That's Ma Long..." and making fun of each other like who would run to the hilltop the fastest, or who dared to challenge Ma Long on fitness. The stairs are no more than 100 m long; it is a 3-5 minutes run at most. But if we regard doing sports as climbing hill, from a boy who liked to play table tennis and who liked to run and jump, to the best table tennis player on earth and "the hexagon warrior", how difficult could it be to climb the hill? Only Ma Long knows the answer.
The Memorial Hill was so familiar to Ma Long. The sports school at which he once trained was not far away from his home. His routine was home, primary school, sports school and the Memorial Hill. That was his own after-school exercise. He ran up and down the hill twice, then enjoyed the view and cooled down on the hilltop before returning home. And some sweeter memory? After he won matches, his father brought him to a night market next to the Memorial Hill and treated him with lamb kebabs. Back then, the price was 3 screwers for 1 CNY and 10 screwers (a.k.a 1 handful) for 3 CNY. Every time Ma Long was able to eat 1 handful.
Was your father happy at your victories? "Of course. If he was unhappy at my victories, was he my father at all?"
How did he express his happiness? "He did not express much. We are alike and good at controlling emotions."
Then how do you know he was happy? "I can read his mind."
Back in Anshan, Ma Long seemed to be more relaxed and outgoing. His mind was even sharper than usual.
Many said he is different from the stereotype of Northeast China. According to his analysis, he lacks the attitude of living cozy as other Anshan people. People of Northeast China used to be enterprising; however the location and historic reasons made Anshan like a state firm. People work and live together, at more or less the same status. No one is willing to move forward or change. Ma Long is different. He chose table tennis, which determined that he had to be on his own. "As an athlete, no matter how the coaches or others help you, when you stand on the court, you are alone. For the one-on-one match, you have to count on yourself. Surely coaches are also crucial, but when you play the real match, the coaches cannot help you."
He had a little homesick after he got to Shenyang at the age of 11, especially when his teammates had their parents visit them or his teammates left Shenyang for other places. "The life is one choice after another, all kinds of choices. There have been so many crossroads. At that time, making right choices were more important than working hard."
Are you a person who makes choices proactively or...? "Passively." His answer was as quick as his chop block.
"I have 'allodoxaphobia'. It's hard for me to make choices as I keep hesitating. I also hesitate when I play table tennis; but I am forced to make a choice standing there at the very moment. I have to make a choice."
We went downhill from another trail and shot the breeze. He suddenly asked where was the civil table tennis court that we found during the recce the day before. I answered, just down the hill. Should we go? The crew were hesitating as he finally had a break in hometown, was he sure about playing some table tennis? He did not say yes or no but went in that direction.
Anshan has a great atmosphere of sports, especially table tennis. In a park located in the most central spot of the city, there is a big court with 50 table tennis tables. People including seniors and juniors were playing. "Many great players were born in Anshan." Ma Long introduced, "Anshan is most famous for Qian Mountain, steel and table tennis champions!" His arrival caused a stir in the court. Seniors talked to each other with Anshan accent, "We have been watching Ma Long play since he was a kid."
We invited two twin boys to play a game with Ma Long. Ma Long borrowed a racket from a senior who was playing on the next table. One boy was shy and the other was aggressive to attack and made some tough placements. Ma Long played around with them, gently. Later we learned that the twin boys started to play table tennis a week ago. They are 11, the age when Ma Long left Anshan.
Epilogue: Later I had lamb kebabs with him. We order two handfuls. He was so happy. I don't know how to describe it, so happy.
He also mentioned that he was asked to write training diary since young. At the beginning, it was just a record of training routines. Gradually it became a way that he talks to himself. He usually types the training diary on the computer and makes sure no errors or typos before he hand-writes on the diary book. "Writing is a serious thing, isn't it?"
Yes, Captain.
(The stairs of the Memorial Hill in Anshan from Ma Long's Weibo 2015/11/29)
(Note: Anshan is renowned as China's capital of iron and steel. Besides Ma Long, Li Xiaoxia, Guo Yue, Zhang Chao, Chang Chenchen are all Anshan-born table tennis world champions. Ma Long's 300 CNY prize money was huge to him when 3 CNY was good for 10 screwers of lamb kebabs.)
Ma Long · An Shan, the first eleven years
(Written by Lv Yanni, The New York Times Travel Magazine October Issue)
Ma Long won his first trophy of table tennis in the city of Anshan.
Maybe in 1995 or 1996, he did not remember the exact time. Anyways, it was within 2-3 years since he first picked up the racket. This is a typical him, who remembers clearly the matches that he lost but not those that he won. It is known that Ma Long does not want to lose any match; the concept of win and loss was established when he was in Anshan. The coach asked him to chole a lot when playing, to frighten the opponent and to cheer himself up. "I did not feel like chole-ing or shouting. The coach forced me to chole and I did very reluctantly."
He got 3 champions in Anshan in total. He recalled that one tournament was held in the stadium of the city sports school where he did his training. Besides the golden medal, he won 300 CNY in prize money. His father treated his coaches and teammates to dinner. "In a restaurant over there", we drove past the street where the city sports school used to be and Ma Long leaned onto the window, trying hard to look for the restaurant. The street name remains the same but the street view is totally different from his memory 20 years ago.
The prize money of 300 CNY was all spent on the dinner. Did you feel disappointed? "Yes."
Then how did you plan to spend that 300 CNY? "I did not know how to spend money at that time, not to mention a big money of 300 CNY." He smiled shyly.
The life of 7-or-8-year-old Ma Long was boringly simple. I shared my impression of Northeast China and Anshan with him, "I heard that every person in Northeast China knows how to hit people in a fight..." "I never hit people; I only hit balls."
Ma Long was sent to learn table tennis by his father at the age of 5. During the 6-7 years before he left Anshan at the age of 11, he had been to 3 primary schools, Gangdu Primary School on Zhonghua South Road in Center City, Shannan Primary School close to his home, and the other one in the suburb. The reason of changing primary schools was that the place of table tennis training had changed. His childhood was full of table tennis, regular school in the morning and table tennis training in the afternoon. In Anshan, the sunset time gets early and early after late September. When he finished training around 5-6 pm, it was dark outside. If his parents had time after work, they would go and pick him up; otherwise, he took the bus to go home by himself, for up to 40-min on the long route. It was freezing in the winter and one had to cover every part of the body except eyes to stay warm. "I wore my scarf to here (underneath the eyes)", he showed us how to cover the whole face.
He also told us some naughty stories. He caught a fly and put it onto a spider web; he climbed onto the willow tree outside the sports school and used the branch as a horizontal bar; he found a bag of unknown clear liquid behind the door of restroom at school and poured it into a plastic bag, as he walked the liquid spilled and burned his clothes - it was sulfuric acid.
This is all our first Full Grand Slam winner did "out of line" in Anshan during his childhood. He spent his first 11 years in this famous tough northern industrial city and not much memory seemed to last. He then went to Shenyang, more than 100 km away; a few years later, he went to Beijing. He counted the time he spent out of his hometown and found it way more than the time he spent in hometown.
As we were driving to the Memorial Hill Park, memory of this city came back to Ma Long little by little.
The Memorial Hill Park is on the north-south central axis of Anshan. Standing on the top of the Memorial Hill, we could see half of the city, covered with green trees and rows of old and new houses. It was Saturday morning and the park was not filled with people. On the playground down the stairs were a group of teenagers in sports jerseys, warming up, stretching and running, as young as the rising sun.
"Look, the world's greatest stretch." They caught Ma Long's attention. He was still in the car and kept watching them. "The world's greatest stretch" was what he called that stretching movement, very exaggeratedly yet seriously.
However, when we walked towards the stairs, towards the crowd, Ma Long had a sudden attack of shyness. The teenagers recognized him but did not dare to come close. As we were taking photos halfway up the Memorial Hill, they were talking, "That's Ma Long..." and making fun of each other like who would run to the hilltop the fastest, or who dared to challenge Ma Long on fitness. The stairs are no more than 100 m long; it is a 3-5 minutes run at most. But if we regard doing sports as climbing hill, from a boy who liked to play table tennis and who liked to run and jump, to the best table tennis player on earth and "the hexagon warrior", how difficult could it be to climb the hill? Only Ma Long knows the answer.
The Memorial Hill was so familiar to Ma Long. The sports school at which he once trained was not far away from his home. His routine was home, primary school, sports school and the Memorial Hill. That was his own after-school exercise. He ran up and down the hill twice, then enjoyed the view and cooled down on the hilltop before returning home. And some sweeter memory? After he won matches, his father brought him to a night market next to the Memorial Hill and treated him with lamb kebabs. Back then, the price was 3 screwers for 1 CNY and 10 screwers (a.k.a 1 handful) for 3 CNY. Every time Ma Long was able to eat 1 handful.
Was your father happy at your victories? "Of course. If he was unhappy at my victories, was he my father at all?"
How did he express his happiness? "He did not express much. We are alike and good at controlling emotions."
Then how do you know he was happy? "I can read his mind."
Back in Anshan, Ma Long seemed to be more relaxed and outgoing. His mind was even sharper than usual.
Many said he is different from the stereotype of Northeast China. According to his analysis, he lacks the attitude of living cozy as other Anshan people. People of Northeast China used to be enterprising; however the location and historic reasons made Anshan like a state firm. People work and live together, at more or less the same status. No one is willing to move forward or change. Ma Long is different. He chose table tennis, which determined that he had to be on his own. "As an athlete, no matter how the coaches or others help you, when you stand on the court, you are alone. For the one-on-one match, you have to count on yourself. Surely coaches are also crucial, but when you play the real match, the coaches cannot help you."
He had a little homesick after he got to Shenyang at the age of 11, especially when his teammates had their parents visit them or his teammates left Shenyang for other places. "The life is one choice after another, all kinds of choices. There have been so many crossroads. At that time, making right choices were more important than working hard."
Are you a person who makes choices proactively or...? "Passively." His answer was as quick as his chop block.
"I have 'allodoxaphobia'. It's hard for me to make choices as I keep hesitating. I also hesitate when I play table tennis; but I am forced to make a choice standing there at the very moment. I have to make a choice."
We went downhill from another trail and shot the breeze. He suddenly asked where was the civil table tennis court that we found during the recce the day before. I answered, just down the hill. Should we go? The crew were hesitating as he finally had a break in hometown, was he sure about playing some table tennis? He did not say yes or no but went in that direction.
Anshan has a great atmosphere of sports, especially table tennis. In a park located in the most central spot of the city, there is a big court with 50 table tennis tables. People including seniors and juniors were playing. "Many great players were born in Anshan." Ma Long introduced, "Anshan is most famous for Qian Mountain, steel and table tennis champions!" His arrival caused a stir in the court. Seniors talked to each other with Anshan accent, "We have been watching Ma Long play since he was a kid."
We invited two twin boys to play a game with Ma Long. Ma Long borrowed a racket from a senior who was playing on the next table. One boy was shy and the other was aggressive to attack and made some tough placements. Ma Long played around with them, gently. Later we learned that the twin boys started to play table tennis a week ago. They are 11, the age when Ma Long left Anshan.
Epilogue: Later I had lamb kebabs with him. We order two handfuls. He was so happy. I don't know how to describe it, so happy.
He also mentioned that he was asked to write training diary since young. At the beginning, it was just a record of training routines. Gradually it became a way that he talks to himself. He usually types the training diary on the computer and makes sure no errors or typos before he hand-writes on the diary book. "Writing is a serious thing, isn't it?"
Yes, Captain.
(The stairs of the Memorial Hill in Anshan from Ma Long's Weibo 2015/11/29)
(Note: Anshan is renowned as China's capital of iron and steel. Besides Ma Long, Li Xiaoxia, Guo Yue, Zhang Chao, Chang Chenchen are all Anshan-born table tennis world champions. Ma Long's 300 CNY prize money was huge to him when 3 CNY was good for 10 screwers of lamb kebabs.)
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Tianjin club confirmed that Ma Long will not attend the first round of Super League on Oct 31st due to injuries.
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On Oct 31st, ITTF announced that Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin will be fined US$20,000 each for China Open forfeits. They will not receive any suspension of international play.
Chinese Table Tennis Association then expressed the understanding and support of this decision.
According to CCTV Sports News, Ma Long has arrived Germany for treatment and missed the first round of Super League.
Chinese Table Tennis Association then expressed the understanding and support of this decision.
According to CCTV Sports News, Ma Long has arrived Germany for treatment and missed the first round of Super League.
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Ma Long is ranked No.1 once again in Nov Issue of ITTF World Rankings. Being No.1 for 63 months in total and 33 months in a row - the record seems unbreakable by anyone but Ma Long himself.
The current World Ranking points consists two parts, rating points which reflects the opponents against whom a player have played and bonus points/penalty points which indicates the positions that a player has reached in tournaments within a year. For example, Ma Long's current 3323 ranking points are made of 3036 rating points, 312 bonus points for tournaments he attended within a year and 25 penalty points for China Open withdrawal. Depending on the difference in rating points between him and his opponents, Ma Long gained very little even none rating points winning over most players and lost huge rating points upon defeat. For example, in 2017 World Cup, Ma Long gained 2 rating points after beating Omar Assar, Koki Niwa and Simon Gauzy, respectively while lost 32 rating points after losing to Timo Boll. You can tell how difficult it is for Ma Long to keep such high rating points (3036), even higher than the total points of the current No.3 Dimitrij Ovtcharov (3011 ranking points =2676 rating points + 335 bonus points).
However, Ma Long will no longer be ranked No.1 next Jan when a new ITTF ranking system will be in effect. The new ranking system adds up the best 8 results within a year (World Championships events within 2 years). Ma Long will have only 7 valid results next Jan and very likely drop out of top 5 in ITTF World Rankings (he has been within top 5 since Dec 2007).
The current World Ranking points consists two parts, rating points which reflects the opponents against whom a player have played and bonus points/penalty points which indicates the positions that a player has reached in tournaments within a year. For example, Ma Long's current 3323 ranking points are made of 3036 rating points, 312 bonus points for tournaments he attended within a year and 25 penalty points for China Open withdrawal. Depending on the difference in rating points between him and his opponents, Ma Long gained very little even none rating points winning over most players and lost huge rating points upon defeat. For example, in 2017 World Cup, Ma Long gained 2 rating points after beating Omar Assar, Koki Niwa and Simon Gauzy, respectively while lost 32 rating points after losing to Timo Boll. You can tell how difficult it is for Ma Long to keep such high rating points (3036), even higher than the total points of the current No.3 Dimitrij Ovtcharov (3011 ranking points =2676 rating points + 335 bonus points).
However, Ma Long will no longer be ranked No.1 next Jan when a new ITTF ranking system will be in effect. The new ranking system adds up the best 8 results within a year (World Championships events within 2 years). Ma Long will have only 7 valid results next Jan and very likely drop out of top 5 in ITTF World Rankings (he has been within top 5 since Dec 2007).
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Check out Ma Long's hometown Anshan and Beijing Table Tennis Team, presented by the New York Times Travel Magazine
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What do you play when you don't play table tennis?
<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FMaLongFamily%2Fvideos%2F758335467624364%2F&show_text=0&width=476" width="476" height="476" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>
(Ma Long was practicing Jay Chou's song "Porcelain Vase" in his dorm at the National Training Center, videoed by Cheng Jingqi back in 2015. He wanted to learn playing piano long time ago; however, according to Xu Xin, he had practiced the same song for more than a year without much improvement and Lin Gaoyuan said this is the only song he can play. Well, practice makes perfect.)
<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FMaLongFamily%2Fvideos%2F758335467624364%2F&show_text=0&width=476" width="476" height="476" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>
(Ma Long was practicing Jay Chou's song "Porcelain Vase" in his dorm at the National Training Center, videoed by Cheng Jingqi back in 2015. He wanted to learn playing piano long time ago; however, according to Xu Xin, he had practiced the same song for more than a year without much improvement and Lin Gaoyuan said this is the only song he can play. Well, practice makes perfect.)
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China Unicom, a long-time sponsor of China National Team, is holding a nationwide amateur table tennis tournament for the fifth time. Players ranging from 10 to 60 years old have finished the first stage of competitions in 313 cities of 31 provinces. The winners of the second stage will represent their provinces to compete in the Grand Finals in December. Ma Long, Ding Ning and Chen Meng are invited to the Grand Finals as well.
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Ma Long: A victory over myself (Interview in Table Tennis World Magazine 2017 November Issue)
After the China National Games, Ma Long showed a photo of the scale. He lost 3 kg within 10 days. He kept thinking of the matches and barely had a good sleep, that's his "tips" for losing weight. "After the defeat, I lay in bed, my mind filled with all possibilities: would that point be better if I played this way? I should have played that tactic. After the victory, I also felt panic if I missed the chance at certain moment." Till the last point of the last match on the last day, when Ma Long defended his singles title and stood on the podium, his mind was still full of matches.
Q: You got one cortisone injection before the National Games. What was your goal by then?
Ma Long: After the injection, I still had 1 week for normal training. I felt great pressure from Team Beijing, from fans' expectations, and from myself. I was quite nervous before the National Games.
Q: You looked tense during the team event. Was it because you were nervous?
Ma Long: During the team event, people all found that I was tense, stressed and overloaded. I was worrying about my teammates when I was playing. Honestly, I had a gut feeling that Team Beijing had good chance to win team champion before the tournament. I haven't won team champion at National Games and I was most eager for this champion. In the team event, I had to do my job first. The difficulties included how to motivate myself as if it were a major tournament and how to play against opponents of similar levels in best-of-five games, which were more unpredictable. In addition to my preparation, I also helped Yan An and Wang Chuqin analyze opponents and worked on lineup together. After the defeat in team event, I was a little disappointed and down. On that night both Coach Qin Zhijian and Ma Lin texted me and advised me to adjust and devote myself to the individual events two days later. The next day Coach Liu Guoliang also texted me and asked me to be prepared and set free myself in the individual events.
Q: You paired with Xu Xin across provinces. Did you have the feeling of champion?
Ma Long: Our goal was definitely champion when we paired up but our form and the desire for victory were growing one match after another. The first match was against Wong Chun Ting / Ho Kwan Kit and we played well from the beginning. Although I lost in team event, Xu Xin won team champion and was very excited. We felt quite comfortable during the match. The second match was against Fang Bo / Shang Kun. Teammates in the National Team know each other well and I felt it would be a tough match beforehand. However, Xu Xin and I played very well during the match. We were very proactive and in good form. More importantly, our desire for victory grew strong and I felt we could win the champion.
Q: Xu Xin had a waist injury the night before the semifinal and final of doubles, how did you deal with it?
Ma Long: On that night he got injured, Xu Xin told me, "I'll try and see tomorrow." Before the semifinal, he was not able to practice and make topspin rallies. The semifinal was against Zhang Yudong / Sun Wen. Xu Xin just could not make topspin and we won because of overall strength. I thought we would not win the final and Xu Xin said, "Don't worry. I will risk it all tonight." He got an injection of anesthesia on waist and I lent my waist protector to him. In the final, Xu Xin was able to make topspin but still much restricted by the injury. In the deciding game, we yet had chance and pity that we lost at the end. When I went back to my room that night, I was still thinking of the match: how to deal with that ball, how to plan and play the deciding game, unstoppable. For each point after 5:3 in the deciding game, I had made several plans and possibilities.
Q: You kept thinking of the doubles match all night. When did you start thinking of upcoming singles matches?
Ma Long: I did not think much for the singles, especially for the final. I know it would be a very tough match against Fan Zhendong no matter how I prepared. To be honest, I was a little negative before the final. I felt very tired and upset because I lost to Fan Zhendong in both team and doubles events. I thought the match would be totally different from all of our previous matches as I did not have any advantage in every aspect.
Q: How did you adjust your mindset during the final?
Ma Long: When the match started, I sensed that Fan Zhendong was not in his best form either. He seemed tired and tense as me. I won the first game and lost the following two with a small margin; then I began to think that I had chance to win. It was unlike our match in the team event - Fan Zhendong's ball was so powerful that I barely reached. When I caught up to 2-2, my desire for victory became stronger and I was more confident. Fan Zhendong played more matches than me during the National Games and he was even more tired than me. I started to think more positively in the game and employ more versatile techniques. And all paid back and fed back positively.
Q: You are the first male player to win singles titles in two consecutive National Games, how do you feel?
Ma Long: I knew no one did it before. I was quite calm after I really made it, not as excited as I was 4 years ago when I won for the first time. I felt this time I won over myself. 4 years ago the final was between Fan Zhendong and me too; Fan Zhendong just started to rise and I felt I had more advantage and I wanted to win so badly that I was very excited after the match. Fan Zendong and I have played numerous times in the past 4 years. We were both in the worst form in this final. 10 days of the National Games were quite torturing for us.
Q: What have you learnt from this National Games? What's your next goal?
Ma Long: In recent years, I was in great form when playing major tournaments. I always established the lead at the beginning. I was in a bad form at this National Games. Winning in a bad form gave me confidence and trust on the new combinations of techniques and tactics. I see myself improved through this National Games. Right now my top goal is to control injuries and maintain good physical condition.
After the China National Games, Ma Long showed a photo of the scale. He lost 3 kg within 10 days. He kept thinking of the matches and barely had a good sleep, that's his "tips" for losing weight. "After the defeat, I lay in bed, my mind filled with all possibilities: would that point be better if I played this way? I should have played that tactic. After the victory, I also felt panic if I missed the chance at certain moment." Till the last point of the last match on the last day, when Ma Long defended his singles title and stood on the podium, his mind was still full of matches.
Q: You got one cortisone injection before the National Games. What was your goal by then?
Ma Long: After the injection, I still had 1 week for normal training. I felt great pressure from Team Beijing, from fans' expectations, and from myself. I was quite nervous before the National Games.
Q: You looked tense during the team event. Was it because you were nervous?
Ma Long: During the team event, people all found that I was tense, stressed and overloaded. I was worrying about my teammates when I was playing. Honestly, I had a gut feeling that Team Beijing had good chance to win team champion before the tournament. I haven't won team champion at National Games and I was most eager for this champion. In the team event, I had to do my job first. The difficulties included how to motivate myself as if it were a major tournament and how to play against opponents of similar levels in best-of-five games, which were more unpredictable. In addition to my preparation, I also helped Yan An and Wang Chuqin analyze opponents and worked on lineup together. After the defeat in team event, I was a little disappointed and down. On that night both Coach Qin Zhijian and Ma Lin texted me and advised me to adjust and devote myself to the individual events two days later. The next day Coach Liu Guoliang also texted me and asked me to be prepared and set free myself in the individual events.
Q: You paired with Xu Xin across provinces. Did you have the feeling of champion?
Ma Long: Our goal was definitely champion when we paired up but our form and the desire for victory were growing one match after another. The first match was against Wong Chun Ting / Ho Kwan Kit and we played well from the beginning. Although I lost in team event, Xu Xin won team champion and was very excited. We felt quite comfortable during the match. The second match was against Fang Bo / Shang Kun. Teammates in the National Team know each other well and I felt it would be a tough match beforehand. However, Xu Xin and I played very well during the match. We were very proactive and in good form. More importantly, our desire for victory grew strong and I felt we could win the champion.
Q: Xu Xin had a waist injury the night before the semifinal and final of doubles, how did you deal with it?
Ma Long: On that night he got injured, Xu Xin told me, "I'll try and see tomorrow." Before the semifinal, he was not able to practice and make topspin rallies. The semifinal was against Zhang Yudong / Sun Wen. Xu Xin just could not make topspin and we won because of overall strength. I thought we would not win the final and Xu Xin said, "Don't worry. I will risk it all tonight." He got an injection of anesthesia on waist and I lent my waist protector to him. In the final, Xu Xin was able to make topspin but still much restricted by the injury. In the deciding game, we yet had chance and pity that we lost at the end. When I went back to my room that night, I was still thinking of the match: how to deal with that ball, how to plan and play the deciding game, unstoppable. For each point after 5:3 in the deciding game, I had made several plans and possibilities.
Q: You kept thinking of the doubles match all night. When did you start thinking of upcoming singles matches?
Ma Long: I did not think much for the singles, especially for the final. I know it would be a very tough match against Fan Zhendong no matter how I prepared. To be honest, I was a little negative before the final. I felt very tired and upset because I lost to Fan Zhendong in both team and doubles events. I thought the match would be totally different from all of our previous matches as I did not have any advantage in every aspect.
Q: How did you adjust your mindset during the final?
Ma Long: When the match started, I sensed that Fan Zhendong was not in his best form either. He seemed tired and tense as me. I won the first game and lost the following two with a small margin; then I began to think that I had chance to win. It was unlike our match in the team event - Fan Zhendong's ball was so powerful that I barely reached. When I caught up to 2-2, my desire for victory became stronger and I was more confident. Fan Zhendong played more matches than me during the National Games and he was even more tired than me. I started to think more positively in the game and employ more versatile techniques. And all paid back and fed back positively.
Q: You are the first male player to win singles titles in two consecutive National Games, how do you feel?
Ma Long: I knew no one did it before. I was quite calm after I really made it, not as excited as I was 4 years ago when I won for the first time. I felt this time I won over myself. 4 years ago the final was between Fan Zhendong and me too; Fan Zhendong just started to rise and I felt I had more advantage and I wanted to win so badly that I was very excited after the match. Fan Zendong and I have played numerous times in the past 4 years. We were both in the worst form in this final. 10 days of the National Games were quite torturing for us.
Q: What have you learnt from this National Games? What's your next goal?
Ma Long: In recent years, I was in great form when playing major tournaments. I always established the lead at the beginning. I was in a bad form at this National Games. Winning in a bad form gave me confidence and trust on the new combinations of techniques and tactics. I see myself improved through this National Games. Right now my top goal is to control injuries and maintain good physical condition.
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It's shopping season in China and SIGG China store has a 5-day-sale of newly designed Ma Long thermos bottles.
The design concept of Ma Long 29th birthday edition is as follows: red and yellow are the colors of China National Flag and commonly used in Team China jerseys. Ma Long's new logo is a smiling face made of his initials "M" and "L". 29 "ML" logos are arranged into a heart, representing the love he sent out during his birthday charity. On the bottom is the date of his birthday with table tennis paddles.
The silhouette edition consists of various colorful silhouettes of Ma Long playing table tennis. It is designed for 2018 World Team Table Tennis Champions in Halmstad, Sweden.
You can check out sigghaersi.world.tmall.com and do not miss the promotion (up to 60% off) by Nov 12!
The design concept of Ma Long 29th birthday edition is as follows: red and yellow are the colors of China National Flag and commonly used in Team China jerseys. Ma Long's new logo is a smiling face made of his initials "M" and "L". 29 "ML" logos are arranged into a heart, representing the love he sent out during his birthday charity. On the bottom is the date of his birthday with table tennis paddles.
The silhouette edition consists of various colorful silhouettes of Ma Long playing table tennis. It is designed for 2018 World Team Table Tennis Champions in Halmstad, Sweden.
You can check out sigghaersi.world.tmall.com and do not miss the promotion (up to 60% off) by Nov 12!
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How come SIGG bottles are so popular in China? They used to be over here as well, but promotion and advertisings got way less.
Didn't even know Ma Long has his own bottle design.
Maybe i should bet one...
Didn't even know Ma Long has his own bottle design.
Maybe i should bet one...
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Nowadays taobao/tmall is the most popular eCommerce platform in China and this week has the biggest sale of the year (so called "11.11" shopping season). Some stores may provide international shipping although expensive and you may have to ask the customer service. Hopefully those products will be available soon on sigg.com.
SIGG was acquired by a Chinese company Haers last year. Recently Haers signed Ma Long for promoting SIGG brand products.
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China Unicom 4G+ network commercial - Ma Long's fun table tennis
Ma Long was playing table tennis with kids while he complained that the net was not steady. However, Ding Ning and Chen Meng found the network (the same word as net in Chinese) was stable as they successfully uploaded a video of Ma Long reaching for the ball, which was watched by numerous viewers instantly. Viewers started to imitate Ma Long's reach.
Ma Long was playing table tennis with kids while he complained that the net was not steady. However, Ding Ning and Chen Meng found the network (the same word as net in Chinese) was stable as they successfully uploaded a video of Ma Long reaching for the ball, which was watched by numerous viewers instantly. Viewers started to imitate Ma Long's reach.
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So this is the reason I think..
I mean - reason why Ma Long keeps losing to Fan Zhendong in Chinese Superleague and he keeps winning in tournaments!
Ma Long just has better stamina!
In the superleague and in the beginning of the tournament they were both fresh and FZD won overwhelmingly..
In the end of tournaments, where FZD and also ML are tired, Ma Long has the upper hand.
Maybe because he doesnt eat bacon with nutella for breakfast
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Here is Fan Zhendong's recap of singles final at the National Games in the same issue of Table Tennis World Magazine.
"I was feeling more and more tired towards the end of the tournament and my legs started to ache. Compared to the final of WTTC against Ma Long, I was much more tired. For many balls, I had tried to reach but just could not make it; my play was somehow out of shape. But the same for Ma Long, he was also very tired. I think I played well in the first three games; however, in the last three games, I did not handle well with the balance between being aggressive and being safe. I had a bad start for each of those games; once trailing behind, I did not dare to use some techniques and tactics and got restricted."
For best-of-seven games, Ma Long and Fan Zhendong have played 13 times in international tournaments (2 World Championships, 1 World Cup, 1 Asian Cup, 1 Asian Olympic Qualification, 2 ITTF Tour Grand Finals and 6 ITTF tours) and 3 times in national tournaments (2 National Games and 1 National Championships). Among all these 16 encounters, 3 were semifinals and 13 were finals; you can tell how strong their performances are in recent years. Fan Zhendong only beat Ma Long 2 out of 16 times, at 2014 National Championships final and 2016 China Open final. On the other hand, they met in National Team singles trials and team events in national tournaments and Super League, which are most best-of-five games. For singles trials, both Fan Zhendong and Ma Long won 3 times, among which Ma Long won a best-of-nine in 2016 and Fan Zhendong won a best-of-three in 2017; only 1 of 6 times was at KO stage and Fan Zhendong won. For team events, Fan Zhendong won 6 out of 8 times; 2 of 8 times were at KO stage and Fan Zhendong won both.
From the statistics, it is clear that the more games of a match, the better chance that Ma Long beat Fan Zhendong. For shorter games, Ma Long performed a little better at round-robin group stage than at KO stage. Ma Long once said that Fan Zhendong has the most advanced techniques among the players worldwide and his own advantages are the versatility and touch during the match; he also said best-of-five games were more unpredictable between players of similar levels. It is not surprising that best-of-seven games give Ma Long more opportunities to make technical and tactical changes accordingly to restrict the performance of Fan Zhendong. Ma Long is known as a quick starter of a match, however, what people may ignore is that he usually builds up his form towards the later stage of a tournament. In a sense, yes, "stamina".
"I was feeling more and more tired towards the end of the tournament and my legs started to ache. Compared to the final of WTTC against Ma Long, I was much more tired. For many balls, I had tried to reach but just could not make it; my play was somehow out of shape. But the same for Ma Long, he was also very tired. I think I played well in the first three games; however, in the last three games, I did not handle well with the balance between being aggressive and being safe. I had a bad start for each of those games; once trailing behind, I did not dare to use some techniques and tactics and got restricted."
For best-of-seven games, Ma Long and Fan Zhendong have played 13 times in international tournaments (2 World Championships, 1 World Cup, 1 Asian Cup, 1 Asian Olympic Qualification, 2 ITTF Tour Grand Finals and 6 ITTF tours) and 3 times in national tournaments (2 National Games and 1 National Championships). Among all these 16 encounters, 3 were semifinals and 13 were finals; you can tell how strong their performances are in recent years. Fan Zhendong only beat Ma Long 2 out of 16 times, at 2014 National Championships final and 2016 China Open final. On the other hand, they met in National Team singles trials and team events in national tournaments and Super League, which are most best-of-five games. For singles trials, both Fan Zhendong and Ma Long won 3 times, among which Ma Long won a best-of-nine in 2016 and Fan Zhendong won a best-of-three in 2017; only 1 of 6 times was at KO stage and Fan Zhendong won. For team events, Fan Zhendong won 6 out of 8 times; 2 of 8 times were at KO stage and Fan Zhendong won both.
From the statistics, it is clear that the more games of a match, the better chance that Ma Long beat Fan Zhendong. For shorter games, Ma Long performed a little better at round-robin group stage than at KO stage. Ma Long once said that Fan Zhendong has the most advanced techniques among the players worldwide and his own advantages are the versatility and touch during the match; he also said best-of-five games were more unpredictable between players of similar levels. It is not surprising that best-of-seven games give Ma Long more opportunities to make technical and tactical changes accordingly to restrict the performance of Fan Zhendong. Ma Long is known as a quick starter of a match, however, what people may ignore is that he usually builds up his form towards the later stage of a tournament. In a sense, yes, "stamina".
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The defending champion Ma Long does not attend 2017 German Open in Magdeburg. Let's take a look at his previous participations in German Open.
In 2005 German Open in Magdeburg, 17-year-old Ma Long made his debut in ITTF World Tour final after beating Oh Sang-eun by 4-2 in the quarterfinal and Timo Boll by 4-1 in the semifinal. In the final, Ma Long had a 3-1 lead but his opponent Vladimir Samsonov turned the table around and won by 4-3. In the deciding game at 6-all, Vladimir Samsonov had the faintest of edges that the umpire didn’t see. Ma Long advised the umpire that the ball had touched and corrected the score. Vladimir Samsonov and the crowd applauded the teenager; it was a magnificent display of sportsmanship.
In 2007 German Open in Bremen, Ma Long defeat Wang Hao by 4-2 in the quarterfinal, Timo Boll by 4-0 in the semifinal and Ma Lin by 4-1 in the final. This is his first singles title in German Open and second singles title in ITTF World Tour.
In 2010 German Open in Berlin, Ma Long won doubles titles with Chen Qi and singles title after beating Dimitrij Ovtcharov by 4-0 in the quarterfinal, Chen Qi by 4-1 in the semifinal and Wang Hao by 4-1 in the final. This is the third time that he won both doubles and singles titles in one ITTF World Tour.
In 2015 German Open in Bremen, Ma Long once again obtained singles title. He beat Timo Boll by 4-0 in the quarterfinal, Dimitrij Ovtcharov by 4-2 in the semifinal despite of trailing nil-2, and Zhang Jike by 4-3 in the final despite of trailing 1-3.
In 2016 German Open in Berlin, Ma Long did not drop a single game in early rounds including the quarterfinal against Kaii Yoshida and the semifinal against Zhang Jike until he met Vladimir Samsonov in the final, 6 years after their last encounter. Vladimir Samsonov won 1 game before Ma Long secured the victory by 4-1. Both Ma Long and Vladimir Samsonov looked different from their first German Open final 11 years ago while great sportsmanship lasts and legends continue - they are the two most successful players of ITTF World Tour.
Out of 5 participations, 1 runner-up and 4 winners of singles, Ma Long was blessed in German Open. As he is currently in Germany for treatment, we wish him a quick recovery to be able to visit his old friend Rackedino in 2018 German Open.
In 2005 German Open in Magdeburg, 17-year-old Ma Long made his debut in ITTF World Tour final after beating Oh Sang-eun by 4-2 in the quarterfinal and Timo Boll by 4-1 in the semifinal. In the final, Ma Long had a 3-1 lead but his opponent Vladimir Samsonov turned the table around and won by 4-3. In the deciding game at 6-all, Vladimir Samsonov had the faintest of edges that the umpire didn’t see. Ma Long advised the umpire that the ball had touched and corrected the score. Vladimir Samsonov and the crowd applauded the teenager; it was a magnificent display of sportsmanship.
In 2007 German Open in Bremen, Ma Long defeat Wang Hao by 4-2 in the quarterfinal, Timo Boll by 4-0 in the semifinal and Ma Lin by 4-1 in the final. This is his first singles title in German Open and second singles title in ITTF World Tour.
In 2010 German Open in Berlin, Ma Long won doubles titles with Chen Qi and singles title after beating Dimitrij Ovtcharov by 4-0 in the quarterfinal, Chen Qi by 4-1 in the semifinal and Wang Hao by 4-1 in the final. This is the third time that he won both doubles and singles titles in one ITTF World Tour.
In 2015 German Open in Bremen, Ma Long once again obtained singles title. He beat Timo Boll by 4-0 in the quarterfinal, Dimitrij Ovtcharov by 4-2 in the semifinal despite of trailing nil-2, and Zhang Jike by 4-3 in the final despite of trailing 1-3.
In 2016 German Open in Berlin, Ma Long did not drop a single game in early rounds including the quarterfinal against Kaii Yoshida and the semifinal against Zhang Jike until he met Vladimir Samsonov in the final, 6 years after their last encounter. Vladimir Samsonov won 1 game before Ma Long secured the victory by 4-1. Both Ma Long and Vladimir Samsonov looked different from their first German Open final 11 years ago while great sportsmanship lasts and legends continue - they are the two most successful players of ITTF World Tour.
Out of 5 participations, 1 runner-up and 4 winners of singles, Ma Long was blessed in German Open. As he is currently in Germany for treatment, we wish him a quick recovery to be able to visit his old friend Rackedino in 2018 German Open.
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