Hi, guys. I know you've been missing some frequent updates from this blog so I decided to write this random Throwback Thursday about Wang Tao and Ma Wenge.
For table tennis lovers who have just followed the sport lately may not know much about the 2 athletes shown in the picture above. They are Ma Wenge (left) and Wang Tao (right), competitive table tennis athletes from the late-80s and 90s.
Ma Wenge, the right-handed shakehander, started playing table tennis in 1975. He won his first senior national title at the 1985 Chinese National Championships and entered the national team in the same year. He was also the men's singles national champion in 1991 and 1992. Throughout his competitive career, Ma Wenge walked away with many World and Olympic medals. In 1995, after winning the men's team world champion in Tianjin, he was assigned to play in table tennis leagues in Germany and eventually faded out from the Chinese national team due to a shoulder injury. Ma Wenge had maintained his competitive table tennis career for over 20 years. He competed in the 2005 National Games and 2007 CTTSL and has become the head coach of Team Tianjin since 2009.
Wang Tao, the left-handed short-pip(backhand) shakehander, got involved in table tennis since 1970. He made to the national team in 1988 and won the men's doubles Olympic champion (teamed up with Lyu Lin) in 1992. He is also the only 2 men (Wang Tao and Ma Long) who won 2 men's singles titles at the National Games (in 1987 and 1997). Wang Tao retired in 1998 and became the head coach of Team PLA.
Ma Wenge and Wang Tao may not be the most celebrated table tennis athletes in the Chinese National Team but many post-60s / 70s Chinese table tennis fans treated them as national heroes because they led Team China to win back their long-lost men's team champion at 1995 WTTC.
The Chinese men went downhill from 1988 to 1994. They fell short from winning the men's team title and men's singles title in 1989, 1991 and 1993 World Championships and did not have the dominance of the Chinese table tennis team has nowadays. According to the athletes and coaches the main reason for the downfall is the lack of innovations. As in the 80s, the Chinese stuck to their traditional penhold style and did not try out new techniques. As time went on, their one-sided penhold playing style was not strong enough, especially the traditional penhold backhand, to play counter-loop rallies against the European players who mainly adopted the two-sided shakehand style. The Chinese has learnt from these painful lessons and comeback with a victory in men's team competition at 1995 Tianjin World Championships. From then on, innovations and pushing the development of table tennis have always been on the agenda of the Chinese national table tennis team.
In 1995 Tianjin World Championships, the Chinese men did not disappoint the home crowd and won 3-2 over Team Sweden. Here are match 2 and match 5 of the men's team finals which are breath-taking and the best men's team finals of all time (in my opinion).
Ma Wenge and Wang Tao are now the head coach of Team Tianjin and Team PLA respectively. We could find them coaching athletes at the 2017 National Games. Here is a fluff produced by CCTV 5 featuring some interesting moments between them.
I hope you enjoy reading this edition of Throwback Thursday. Comment below and let me know if you like to read more recent throwbacks (competitions of the post 21-point system era) or oldies like this one! Some might be anticipating news of this year's Chinese Super League but, so far, there are no news about it. Whereas the 2017 CTTA A-League is undergoing. More translated videos from the national games and updates on the Chinese Super League will be coming up in the next few days. Don't go away!
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