On 20 May, the WTT suddenly announced a change in the list of athletes for the WTT Chongqing Championships, with Chinese table tennis team Smash veteran Ma Long withdrawing from the battle and being replaced by teammate Lin Gaoyuan’s replacement, a situation which also came as a surprise to many fans.
Since the Chinese table tennis team has to conduct closed training before the Paris Olympics, the WTT Chongqing Championships is likely to be the last opportunity for real-life practice. As a result, Ma Long, who is the main player of the Olympics, is not participating, plus he is also absent from the singles lineup of the WTT Taiyuan Regular Season Tournament, and many fans cannot help but question: he is not in an injury situation, is he?
Concerned about the bing world of friends know that the Chinese team in May 14th announced a complete list of the Paris Olympics, as two-time singles champion, three-time team gold medalist Ma Long was selected again, but no chance to participate in the singles project, only as a group “third person” to fight, continue to take the old with the new to assist the two younger brother Wang Chuqin, Fan Zhendong.
As early as May 11th WTT Saudi Smash after the end of the tournament, Ma Long has been and other Chinese table tennis team mainstay high hanging war card recuperation, and then although signed up for May 21st WTT Taiyuan regular season, but only to participate in doubles projects, did not sign up for the singles.
Since the WTT Chongqing Championships on 30 May is at a higher level and only has singles events, it is widely believed that Ma and the others will be working out at this leg of the tournament before entering the final stage of their Olympic preparations.
According to the rules of the championships, associations usually have four men and four women participating, and the host may get a wild card, so even though the Chinese table tennis team was registering Wang Chuqin, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, Liang Jingkun, Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng, Wang Manyu, and Wang Yidi at the beginning, it was widely believed that Lin Gaoyuan and Chen Xingtong still had a chance to get the extra spot, and as it turned out, Lin Gaoyuan did get it, but Ma Long left the tournament.
At present we are still not clear about the reason for Ma Long’s withdrawal, but as a veteran who is about to turn 36 years old, Ma Long’s physical condition is not as good as that of young people in the first place, so now we can’t rule out the fact that he is choosing to build up his strength and maintain a good physical condition before the Olympics.
However, what is worrying is that after the arrival of 2024, Ma Long has already lost three foreign matches in less than half a year, defeating South Korea’s Lee Sang-soo, German athlete Franziska, and South Korea’s Jang Woo-jin, and his condition was already poor, and he is now absent from international matches, so can he really get back to his form at the Paris Olympics next?
It’s hard to predict the future, so I hope Ma Long will be able to regain his strength and try to get his sixth Olympic gold medal.
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