From Rio to Tokyo: Kong Linghui States 8 Points to Extend the Dominance

Who will be leading the Chinese national team in the next 4 years? New starts and new trends will emerge in the new Olympic cycle. We already know the official result of the Chinese National coaching team but we might also want to know the vision and targets for the coming years. "Table Tennis World", a Chinese table tennis magazine, has transcribed the recruitment speech of some of the applicants. Here is the summary of Kong Linghui's speech in English.

Source: CTTA

Learnings and Experiences in the Past 4 Years

Kong Linghui will stay on as the Chief-coach of the Women's A team. 4 years ago, he took over the post and led the team winning all gold medals in the Olympics, Worlds and Asian Games team event. He concluded the he has learned a lot from the past 4 years and has a deeper understanding on the role of a coach. As the chief-coach, he has been the leader, as well as, the coordinator. He overlooks the team in the aggregate but focusing on the details at the same time. Kong Linghui thinks that incidents like Olympic champion, Guo Yue left the team, Li Xiaoxia was unsure about her career, Ding Ning had problems with her skills, the change of coaches for Zhu Yuling and Liu Shiwen's international-play suspension have revealed the problem of his management more comprehensive and well-rounded consideration is needed.


Path to Tokyo

Kong Linghui mentioned 8 points to be worked on

1. Unite the team and play as a team

2. Improving management skills of the coaching team

3. Be aware of the potential opponents (especially the Japanese)

4. Modify the competition system in the team

5. Study the features of the new ball
He summarized a few key points to victory
Be aggressive, be powerful in the rallies, control ball placements and play according to opponents; consistency makes spin, control makes ball placement, follow-up makes pacing and attack makes quality. (It is very concise but practical)
Mentality is the key to winning in big meets.

6.  Build the team
With Li Xiaoxia's retirement, Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen, Zhu Yuling, Chen Meng, Wu Yang and Mu Zi become the main players of the women's team. Young players, Wang Manyu, Chen Xingtong, Liu Gaoyang and Sun Yingsha will be competing for securing a spot in the main players' division.

Comments on the main players
Ding Ning who has experienced 2 Olympics will be the core of the team. Liu Shiwen has proved herself in the Chinese trials but she needs to work on her mentality. Zhu Yuling is the alternate in Rio Olympic. She plays smartly in international matches but there are still room for improvements on her technique. She also needs to tackle the problem of inconsistency. Chen Meng has improved a lot but playing against choppers is her nemesis which is an issue to be solved. Despite the fact that Mu Zi is relatively old, she earned her the position as a main player because she is proficient in playing against choppers and has played well in 2015 Worlds and in 2017 Chinese Trials. Wu Yang, has great results in the past years but the ABS ball has posed challenges to her. The team will search for new techniques for choppers to better adapt the characteristics of the new ball. Wu Yang is also hampered by her back injury which has affected her training and competitions.

7. Analyze the opponents

The Japanese team will be the biggest opponents to the Chinese. Team Singapore, North Korea, Germany are also first-tier opponents. Followed by that, team Hong Kong, Korea, Chinese Taipei and teams with former Chinese players are also very competitive opponents. The team will do research and study these potential opponents.

8. Cross-department supporting team
Physio therapists, physical fitness coaches, psychological counselors and scientific researchers have been backing up the team and has helped the team to achieve outstanding results. The team will rely on the supporting teams and improve the qualities of the training.

Source: 乒乓世界 Table Tennis World

Personal thoughts: 
It is not surprising that Kong Linghui stay on as the chief-coach of the women's A team. He has done a great job in the last quad. I am glad to see Mu Zi being part of the main players. We might going to see her playing more in international meets. It might be a way the national team to enhance the morale among experienced but unheard players. It seems that the women's team are learning from the success of the men's team, including introducing competitions in the team and stress the importance of the supporting team. I am sure we will see more women playing aggressive style and powerful rallies like the men in the following years. This may also explain the reason for having Xiao Zhan, Zhang Jike's coach, to coach in the women's team for the coming years. Comment down below and share your thoughts. Follow the blog for more updates.

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