The Marvellous 12, also known as the Chinese Trials for 2019 WTTC, will get underway this week, from 28 February to 3 March in Shenzhen, China. After an intense and pressurised qualifying round (stage 1), the team comes up with the best 12 men and 12 women, including Olympians Xu Xin, Fan Zhendong, Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen, to compete at the 2019 Marvellous 12, vying for spots at the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships (2019 WTTC).
Top 2 Earn Tickets to Budapest
Do you still remember the Marvellous 12 dated back in 2017? Two years ago, we witnessed the impeccable and the incredible; champions crowned and newcomers emerged. The 2019 edition includes many new faces as well as some familiar, all of whom strive for making the top 2 to secure their spots at the 2019 WTTC which will take place from 21 to 28 April in Budapest, Hungary.
Men's Preview
On the men's side, Fan Zhendong and Lin Gaoyuan, continue their search for repeating the success they had in 2017. However, they have to face off challenges from the up-and-comers. The biggest up-and-comer is 2018 Youth Olympic champion Wang Chuqin. The 18-year-old had a magnificent 2018 in which he becomes world champion by winning 2018 World Team Cup and World Team champion with the team. He then proved himself by winning gold in the mixed doubles and team event at the Asian Games and completed a clean sweep at the Youth Olympic Games later in the year. These achievements yell out that this young player has tremendous potential.
Speaking of 2018 World Team Cup, Yu Ziyang is also part of the champion-winning squad. Although some may think he has benefited from last year's U21 policy which favoured young athletes aged under 21, it does mean he stands out among the younger generation and we can never predict where he will end up.
Xue Fei wowed us in 2017 when he won all 4 titles (team, singles, doubles and mixed doubles) at the 2017 Junior World Championships. However, it has been quite a while since then. Will the penholder once again surprise us at the 2019 Marvellous 12 where everyone's world champion dream begins? We will wait and see.
Zhao Zihao, his name may not stand out to you but the standout penholder came first in the qualification round (stage 1) with Xu Chenhao, Fang Bo, Zhou Kai trailing behind. Is it quite a surprise? Yes and no. Indeed, he did not have much international experience but he has made a significant improvement in the 2018 CTTSL season when he picked up a bigger role in the team competition. So these are the new faces who will be competing at their first ever Marvellous 12 and we shall move on the familiar ones.
Sometimes I am amazed by how things have changed so quickly. People come and go and Xu Xin is the only Olympian in the field. I hope he is not over the hill. The cloud walker, the artist, whatever you call him, has been the king of the trials. He made his name and earned his first ticket to the World Championships at the 2007 Chinese Trials in his first year at the national team. Since then he has been the dark horse at the trials upsetting legends at the time such as Wang Liqin, Ma Lin and Wang Hao. I hope he will uphold his reputation for being the king of the trials and deliver great performances at the Marvellous 12. (Yes, I am talking about those mind-blowing forehand loops and amazing footwork!)
So what about the other Olympians? Zhang Jike decided to sit out the trials since he has not been training regularly but as far as I have read he is still in the world of table tennis and has not officially retired. Whereas Ma Long pulled out in the last minute because he would like to compete only when his injuries are fully healed. I see the point of resting his injuries, in fact, a smart decision, because Ma Long did not need a trial to prove himself. We all know he is great and his goal is to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics healthily.
Back on track, I would consider Liang Jingkun as a strong contender for the World Championships. Making his World Championships debut in 2015, Liang Jingkun has come so close to the World Championships and then missed by the slenderest margin in 2017 and 2018. Who knows if he will make a breakthrough in 2019? After all, he is the reigning Chinese national champion and has recently crowned the most-valued player at 2018 CTTSL. Last but not least, I think Xu Chenhao, Fang Bo, Zhou Kai and Yan An (substituting Ma Long's withdrawal) are also in the mix.
I am sorry for not making specific predictions in this preview but who could ever guarantee Lin Gaoyuan, qualifying last for the 2017 Marvellous 12, would earn a spot at the 2017 World Championship before the tournament started? This is the Marvellous 12, the Chinese Trials and anything can happen from the results to the lighting (just saying, the lights went off in the middle of the match between Ma Long played and Lin Gaoyuan at 2017 Marvellous 12). So please bear with me for that.
Women's Preview
Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen are old favourites. They led the field in 2017 but it's not going to be that straight forward in 2019 and here's why. Ding Ning mentioned several times during the 2018 CTTSL season that the jam-packed competition schedule is a great test of stamina and she felt that she was not recovering as quickly as she used to be. Apparently, the challenges for her are not just the up-and-coming young athletes but her body condition. Liu Shiwen has just suffered a shocking defeat to Hina Hayata at the Portugal Open at which she planned to gain confidence by winning the tournament. Learning from defeats and fighting back stronger has always been the spirit of the national team. I hope Liu Shiwen will bounce back and prove that she deserves to be on the World Championships squad.
Zhu Yuling, Chen Meng and Wang Manyu are no strangers to the Marvellous 12. They took part in the 2017 Marvellous 12 but fell short from winning those precious tickets to the World Championships (Zhu and Chen did not win the 2017 Marvellous 12 but competed at the 2017 WTTC). If 2017 was more about the experience, the 2019 edition means serious business to them. The 3 of them were assigned to compete at major competitions in 2018 including World Championships and Asian Games, meaning that the coaching team has high expectation on them and will be watching every move closely.
The 5 newcomers on the women's side are Sun Yingsha, Chen Xingtong, Wang Yidi, Sun Mingyang and He Zhuojia. For those who have followed ITTF World Tour may have heard of Sun Yingsha and Chen Xingtong. Interesting enough, they were not among the 2017 Marvellous 12 but came into the international scene in 2017 winning multiple World Tour titles. Coming in stronger and better in 2019, they headed the field at the qualification round. Sun Yingsha, placed first with a winning streak of 15 matches and Chen Xingtong qualified in second place. They are promising young athletes and could potentially challenge for a spot to the World Championships.
Wang Yidi came third in the qualification round with quite a leading edge. We can never overlook her potential to upset the big names, which has happened before at the 2017 Chinese National Games where she defeated Chen Meng in the quarterfinals and almost won the bronze medal match against Zhu Yuling to settle for a fourth place.
Thanks to Japan's Mima Ito, being the biggest threat to the Chinese team the "mima-nia" ups Chinese pips players chances to compete at trials. According to the rules of the qualification round, the 2 highest ranked pips players would guarantee a spot at the 2019 Marvellous 12 and here we have Sun Mingyang and He Zhuojia. Both players have pips-out for their backhand. Sun Mingyang is more on the powerful side while He Zhuojia is very good at countering long rallies. Who knows if they would be the threat for the spot.
Finally, Gu Yuting and Wu Yang are 2 solid and experienced players in the field. The 2019 Marvellous 12 has a really strong field and you never know what could happen in a sport like table tennis. So that's all for the preview! Who are your picks? Leave them in the comment below!
Pressure & Prize in Pre-Olympic Year
The Chinese Trials is where world champion dream begins and legends born. Athletes definitely feel the pressure, especially in such competitive field which often comes alongside with some unconventional rules and competition format. This year the Marvellous 12 brings in some fun incentives, awarding the champion 1 million RMB prize money and 0.5 million RMB for the first runner-up, a total of 5 million RMB prize money, making this one of the most pricey table tennis competitions in the world. Perhaps this has something to do with the new reform introduced by Liu Guoliang, the CTTA president, who keeps strict rules for reward and punishment and introduces a performance appraisal system to the coaching team, awarding coaches who have outstanding achievements. There will be an article about the new coaching structure and performance appraisal system soon, so watch our blog for the updates.
When Trials Is In The Public Eye
Here's a little history fact about the Chinese Trials. The Chinese team always selects the best players for international competitions through trials but it was only until 2006 the trials was first aired on TV. It is said that the idea of broadcasting Chinese Trials live emerged in 2004 when the Chinese men had a hard time of deciding men's doubles roster for the 2004 Olympics. The trials was played closed-door between Ma Lin / Chen Qi, later crowned 2004 Olympic champion, and Wang Liqin / Yan Sen, the 2000 Olympic champion who lost the trials and missed the 2004 Olympics. The match was reported a captivating but brutal one and some thought such a match should be enjoyed by the public as well.
So in 2006, the Chinese Trials for WTTC was broadcast live on TV for the very first time and many of us have got spoiled by the high-level playing field of the Chinese Trials since then. Chinese Trials is not just about the big names but those who potentially will become legends in the future. In fact, many world champions and Olympic champions started their success at the Chinese Trials. For example Liu Shiwen in 2006 (can't believe this is going to be her 11th trials), Xu Xin in 2007, Zhang Jike in 2009, Fan Zhendong in 2013 etc. It also offers chances for the underdogs to realize their World Championships dream, such as Wu Yang in 2013 when choppers in China are usually considered as a practice partner instead of a contender for the World Championships.
Besides the depth of the field, the Chinese Trials is known for its crazy competition format. Have you ever seen table tennis competition played under the 6-point system (2006 & 2007), the best of 9 game format (2016) or the best of 3 game format (2017)? Well, they were all played in the Chinese Trials while the 2019 edition adopts the more common best of 5 game format.
The Chinese Trials was scaled up in 2017 and became the prestigious Marvellous 12. Not only did it have better promotion and more exciting competition format, but the star-studded commentator stand was also the highlight of the competition. The 2019 Marvellous 12 will carry on these great practices and invite national team members and coaches to comment at this year's event.
Chinese Trials is always full of excitements and disappointments but what captivated the public the most is the experience of being able to get behind the men and women to see them overcoming challenges and pushing their limits to ensure China brings home gold again. There were countless great moments at the Chinese Trials, comment below and let us know if you like to have a few throwbacks regarding the Chinese Trials!
Roster
The first 6 players on the list are directly qualified for the 2019 Marvellous 12 while the remaining players qualified through stage 1 of the Trials.
Sources: Tencent Sport
Schedule
The 2019 Marvellous 12 is scheduled from 28 February to 3 March. There are 2 sessions per day with the afternoon session starting at 13:00 and the evening session at 19:00 local time (GMT+8). Details of the schedule (provisional, subject to changes) are as follow:
Sources: Tencent Sport
Live Stream
The Marvellous 12 will air on Tencent Sports (table 1 &2), (Pingpangwang: Table 1, Table 2) and partially on CCTV 5 beginning at 13:00 local time. It seems that viewers outside of mainland China can access those links too but if you can't, we will update the results and write a recap on the blog so you can follow along.
More details are available on the official website for the 2019 Marvellous 12 (Chinese only).
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