It'd have been nice if you guys cited that things only started to change for the better after FFTT invited Han Hua to join the French team in
2013.
The Chinese coach who teaches table tennis to the world
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202408/02/WS66ac26a1a3104e74fddb8138.html
https://today.line.me/hk/v2/article/9m9Jl3r
Un Chinois à la rescousse du tennis de table français
(A Chinese to the rescue of French table tennis)
https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2014/03/03/1830656-france-un-chinois-a-la-rescousse.html
Since the golden decade of Gatien, Chila and Eloi in 1990-2000, France has struggled to regain its place at the zenith. But the federation has sought out the best to achieve this: a Chinese coach, a real one. Han Hua is an atypical one. A Chinese man of a good 1.80m, with a hesitant but correct Frenchman.
A pearl that the Chinese federation has allocated to his French counterpart for the current Olympiad. With the ulterior motive of exporting the national sport, so dominated by the "Empire" (4 gold medals out of 4 in London) that its results have become deadly boring, tiring the public and sponsors.
At Insep, where he has been officiating since last December, Han has quickly found his marks and identified the priority projects. And the former coach of the Chinese juniors, three of whom became Olympic champions, is not gentle with French planning:
"Here, the program was not well done, the balance between training, physical work and competition phases was not respected."
On arriving in Paris, he first worked to break with these bad habits inherited from the blessed era: "The French have fallen behind. They have a history with Gatien (Olympic vice-champion in 1992 and world champion in 1993), Chila (bronze medalist in doubles with Gatien at the 2000 Olympics), Eloi, Legoût (team vice-world champions with the two previous ones in 1997). They are intelligent but have rested on their laurels for too long."
"The game has changed, the French have not realized it"
"Since the end of the 20th century, the game has changed," emphasizes the coach. "But it's as if the French hadn't realized it. Before, we attacked or defended. Now, you have to know how to do everything. The greatest players have no weak points. The format of the balls has changed, the exchanges are longer than before and you have to have a good physique," he notes.
And that's where France is failing. When he joined INSEP, Han Hua was surprised by the number of injured internationals. Table tennis player's disease, shoulder tendinitis is wreaking havoc in the French team. The fault lies in a poorly engaged rhythm, according to Han: "In the heyday of the French team, physique was less important. Today, you have to do muscle building, flexibility and motor coordination programs."
"An electroshock"
As a result, the cultural revolution is underway. The old coaches have left and the players are adapting. Above all, the heroes of the Belle Époque, who had worked in management, have anointed the newcomer. "Eloi, Legout, Chila consider him to be a good coach. He talks a lot to the players, he is close to them," notes the president of the French federation, Christian Palierne, who organized the importation of the master during the last World Championships held in Paris-Bercy, in 2013.
Newly elected, he had noticed that the transition of the best French cadets and juniors to the higher category was often laborious. "As is often the case in France," he says. "We didn't have a well-defined strategy. We needed an electroshock. There are things that can only be said by someone from the outside."
Han Hua, who is committed until Rio, has ambitious goals with the federation: a medal at the Euro team championship this year, then the same at the 2016 Olympics. Impossible is not Chinese?
Han Hua : "Je ressens une grande cohésion, une unité dans cette équipe"
(Han Hua: "I feel a great cohesion, a unity in this team")
https://www.tennis-de-table.com/han-hua-ressens-grande-cohesion-unite-cette-equipe/
Tennis de table: Han Hua, un envoyé très spécial pour l'équipe de France - 28/04
(Table tennis: Han Hua, a very special envoy for the French team - 04/28)