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| 2017 Asian Championships Men's Team Champion |
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| 1994 World Team Cup Men's Team Champion (Qin Zhijian first from the right) Photo: Souho Sport |
Qin Zhijian started playing table tennis in the age of 6 in 1982. Unlike most athletes who work their way to the national team from provincial team, he entered the junior national team before becoming a member of the provincial team in 1989. However the junior national team was dismissed in 1991 and he had to return to the provincial team.
He made his way back to the national team in 1993 after a great performance in the Chinese National Games. Following that year, Qin Zhijian became a world champion as a member of the champion-winning team at the 1994 Team World Cup. He was one of the young hopefuls alongside Liu Guoliang and Kong Linghui but after losing to nameless European players, he faded out and was assigned to imitate Yoo Nam Kyu in 1996. After years of hard work, he made his World Championships debut in 1999 and placed third in mixed doubles partnering Yang Ying. He reached his peak at 2001 Worlds winning the mixed doubles champion with the same partner. He won two bronze medals, men's doubles partnering Ma Lin and mixed doubles with Niu Jianfeng at 2003 Worlds.
He retired in 2005 and became Chinese national coach in 2006. Qin Zhijian's achievements as an athlete may not be as outstanding as his peer, Liu Guoliang, the grand-slam player, the former chief-coach of the men's team and the current head coach of the Chinese national team. However he is known for being calm and detailed-minded and has coached Ma Long, Xu Xin, Wang Liqin and many great table tennis players in his 11-year coaching career. Will he lead the Chinese team to continued success? We will wait and see.
First Individual World Champion Title in 2001
Back in the days, each game would end at 21 points and penhold players were not 'endangered species'. Watch the full match of 2001 Worlds mixed doubles finals, where the penhold Chinese pairs played against the shakehand Korean pairs. To my surprise, the penhold style was not at a disadvantage in this match. Their variety and aggressiveness were great enough to win the match but it may be also the reason for not having many rallies in the competition.
Happy Ending in 2005
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| Mixed Doubles Champion in 2001 Chinese National Games Photo: people.com.cn |
Chinese National Games is a stage where Chinese athletes prove themselves once every 4 years. If the 7th-place finishing in the men's team event at 1993 Chinese National Games was a door opener for Qin Zhijian to make to the national team, the later Chinese National Games was a fruitful experience for him. He won the mixed doubles title in 1997 and 2001. He also made to the men's singles final in 2001 after a surprising victory over the reigning World Champion, Wang Liqin, at that time and ended up second after a 5-game thriller against Ma Lin. Interestingly, the 2001 Chinese National Games is the last game to play the 21-point system. He played in front of the home crowd in Jiangsu at his last Chinese National Games in 2005 and captured the men's team champion which he had been yearning for. It is rare to see him get so excited after winning the match. (Watch other games of Men's Team Final 2and Men's Team Final 4here!)
2005 Chinese National Games Men's Team Final 3 -- Li Zhi Vs Qin Zhijian
Qin Zhijian is a left-handed penhold player, like Xu Xin, but he played traditional backhand push instead of the reverse backhand we see nowadays. The backhand is often the nemesis of penholders especially for those who play traditional backhand as it is hard to play counter-loop. So penhold players usually play strong forehand loop for most of the time to win points while defend with their backhand. This tactic is not only found in the previous clip but also the following match played in 2005 Chinese Table Tennis Super League, where Qin Zhijian played against Liu Guozheng (I wonder have they ever thought of being the national coach of the men's team together). Make sure you watch the point at 3:02. Xu Xin probably learnt the move, returning his backhand behind his back, from his coach Qin Zhijian!
2005 CTTSL Stage 1 Round 11 -- Qin Zhijian (Guangdong) Vs Liu Guozheng (Shandong)
A Match between the head coaches
2002 US Open Men's Singles Finals -- Qin Zhijian Vs Liu Guoliang
Qin Zhijian in TV Drama
Qin Zhijian featured in an 11-episode TV drama "The National Table Tennis Player" in 2000 (a very young Wang Hao was also featured in the TV drama). The fictional TV drama is about the Chinese national team training hard to prepare for World Championships and highlighted the issue of trying out new skills, managing athletes and the culture of the Chinese table tennis national team (things like training as a team and play for the national honour...). Many thought that Qin Zhijian would make to the entertainment industry but he loves the sport so much that he did not want to leave table tennis. So here he is, the chief-coach of the men's team!
From a future star to a supporting player, to the world champion, the national coach and the head of the men's team, he has played a no less significant role in the Chinese national table tennis team. He has devoted his life to the sport no matter has he been the centre of the spotlight or not. His story depicts the spirit of the Chinese national table tennis team and will tell the continued success of Chinese table tennis.
Sorry for the very late update of Throwback Thursday. I hope you like this week's Throwback Thursday. You can find the previous Throwback Thursday by clicking the 'Throwback Thursday' tab at the top of the page. Guess who will be in next week's Throwback Thursday? Comment below and follow the blog for more updates.
References
An Interview with Qin Zhijian in 2005 Chinese National Games. Souhu Sport. October 17, 2005. Retrieved in 19 April, 2017.
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