The Chinese always have a 1-month intensive closed-door training to hone their craft before the big meets come. Get a peek at what has been going on at this year's closed-door training for 2019 WTTC!
The 2019 closed-door training kicked off in Shenzhen, China right after the Marvellous 12. Although the objective of the closed-door training is to prepare athletes for the 2019 WTTC coming up this April, the team's ultimate goal is to bring home gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. With the team putting more focuses on the new Olympic event, the mixed doubles, the men's and the women's team collaborate and train together in closed-door training for the first time. Such collaboration also brings positive incentives to the women's team as the intensity and quality of training has improved significantly under the new arrangement.
Keep your friends close and your opponents closer. One of the keys to the Chinese success is to know their opponents well and to do so, the team have put up the "Great Wall" with pictures of major opponents in the international scene. For the men, Jun Mizutani, Harimoto Tomokazu of Japan and Timo Boll and Dimitrij Ovtcharov are listed as the first-tier. Whereas the Japanese women, Ito Mima, Kasumi Ishikawa, Miu Hirano and Kato Miyu, are placed on the most eye-catching spot on the women's edition of the "Great Wall".
Can you recognize all the faces on the "Great Wall" and who would you like to add on the "Great Wall"? Tell us in the comment below! Warm-up matches are scheduled at the end of the closed-door training in early April, do follow the blog for more updates about the matches!
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| Photo: 李武军 Weibo |
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| Photo: 李武军 Weibo |
Calderano and Pitchford in the Great Wall
ReplyDeleteYes, they are tough competitors who have the record of winning over the Chinese. We did a review in 2017 that most of the players listed on the "Great Wall" had made to round of 16 or further at the World Championships and I think this wall is a simple but reliable preview of 2019 WTTC.
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