Recap of 2017 Chinese National Games Prelims

Recap: A Show with the Experienced, the Greats and the Youth

Greetings and welcome to the end of a busy week. The preliminary round of the Chinese National Games was held from 23 March to 29 March 2017 in Anshan, Liaoning. In the competition 16 pairs of mixed doubles, men's doubles and women's doubles; 24 men and women;12 men's team and women's team qualify to the final stage of the Chinese National Games which will be held from 28 August to 6 September in Tianjin.

Qualifiers of the final stage of the Chinese National Games are as follow:

Day 7 Results: Men's Singles & Women's Singles -- 13th Chinese National Games Prelims

Day 7 Results: Save the Best for Last

The last day of the meet always has the most spectacular matches, even in the preliminary round. The men's singles came up with fierce competitions. Celebrations for some and upsets for the others. Most seeded players in the women's singles defended their spots but the process was not easy at all.

In men's singles, Lin Gaoyuan (Guangdong) and Shang Kun (Shanghai) were forced out by the unknown penhold short-pips players, Wang Linkun (Hunan) and Jie Jianwei (Yunnan) respectively, giving away the chance to qualify to the Chinese National Games. (Watch Lin's match here!) There is no hope for Shang Kun to qualify to the Games but Lin Gaoyuan will have a second chance, if he makes his way to the podium in the Worlds this year. After Lin Gaoyuan took the ticket to Worlds, the coaches and the media have high hopes on him. In return, he overworked himself. However great haste is not always good speed. Fortunately this was just the prelims but not the Worlds. We hope he have learned a lesson from this experience.

Day 6 Results: Men's doubles, Women's doubles and Men's singles -- 13th Chinese National Games Prelims

Day 6 Results: The Calm Before the Storm

Day 6 of the competition includes men's doubles, women's doubles and men's singles. There are a few surprises but nothing mind-blowing. 

The biggest black horse in the women's side, Zhao Lin (Guangxi), has surprised us again in the women's doubles after her impressive 12-straight-win in the prior team competition. She and her partner, Hao Hao (Tibet) forced the renowned national team members Chen Xingtong / Wen Jia (Liaoning) to the last set. Despite losing the match, their performance wins the hearts of the audience. 

Other top-seeded doubles did not face challenges from the young. Xu Xin / Ma Long (Shanghai / Beijing) and Ding Ning / Liu Shiwen (Beijing / Guangdong) romped to victory, using less than 15 minutes to end the match. Well, their victory does not surprise us but we did not expect the competition was that incredibly short. Maybe a few exhibition points at the end of the set next time?

Bounce back is the key word of the men's doubles. There were several matches started with a 0-2 deficit and bounce back winning 3-2, including Ren Hao / Xia Yizheng (Henan) Vs. Xu Chenhao / Zhao Zhaoyan (PLA),  Fan Shengpeng / Cheng Jingqi (Hebei)  Vs. Chen Peng / Cao Meng (Ningxia) and Zhao Zihao / Kong Lingxuan (Shanghai / Shandong) Vs. Liu Jikang / Hao Shuai ( Liaoning / Tianjin) [Watch here on the left]. There is also a 'bounce back' in men's singles, Song Xu (PLA) Vs. Wang Chuqin (Beijing) [ Watch here]. Regarding these I conclude table tennis is like tossing a coin, you never know whether you will win or lose until the last point ends.

In yesterday's competition we saw a wide range of playing styles. The penhold, the choppers, the short-pips...After rounds of competitions, Wu Yang (Shanxi) and Hu Limei (PLA) is the only defensive pair who qualify to the Chinese National Games while the others are dominated by the conventional shakehand players playing with inverted rubber. Thanks for the policies that each team must comprise of a penhold player or chopper for the men's and a penhold player for women's team, choppers and penhold players will not become 'extinct' in the Chinese National Games.

Last but not least, congratulations to the pairs who qualify to the final stage! Check the results below. There will be men's singles and women's singles tomorrow!

Day 5 Results: Mixed Doubles, Women's Singles, Men's Singles -- 13th Chinese National Games Prelims

Day 5 Results: 1 Plus 1 is Larger Than 2 ? The Chemistry in Doubles

The mixed doubles have definitely added some finishing touches to today's competition.

Disappointing results for Fang Bo and Chen Meng. The partnership of two strong players from Team Shandong did not make their way to Tianjin (the final stage), losing 3-1 to Xu Yingbin and Liu Ming (Hei Longjiang / Yunnan). Fang Bo and Chen Meng did have a chance of winning the match as they won the 2nd set with 11-1 and had a lead in the 3rd set but inconsistency has cost them the qualification to the final stage. The two young players, Xu Yingbin and Liu Ming are the black horse of the meet. They beat Shang Kun and Feng Yalan in the first round and have played well throughout the competition. We look forward to seeing the emergence of the two young players.

The defeat of Fang Bo and Chen Meng may suggest two strong players do not necessarily form an unbeatable doubles as the pairs need to adapt to their partner's playing style and make the chemistry work together. Fan Zhendong and Zhu Yuling (PLA / Sichuan) on the other hand, demonstrated a good partnership. Zhu Yuling is known for playing rallies but lacking a bit of power. Fan Zhendong's powerful backhand has compensated this shortcoming, making a easy clean sweep in the mixed doubles.

Day 4 Results: Women's Team, Men's Team and Mixed Doubles -- 13th Chinese National Games Prelims

Day 4 Results: Liu Shiwen Fought Hard But Cannot Help, Team Guangdong is Out

Last Day for the Team Competition and the Mixed Doubles starts the night. Check the following results to see which teams will be playing in the Chinese National Games scheduled on 28 August, 2017!

The match of the day goes to Shanghai Vs Guangdong in the women's team.

Day 3 Results: Women's Team and Men's Team -- 13th Chinese National Games Prelims

Day 3 Results: Ma Long was Given a Mercy Point! The Young Challenging the Top

Day 3! Another day of the team competitions. Several decisive matches have been played today. Some teams have secured their spots to the final stage while some leave the suspense till the last match. Which team will qualify to the final stage of the Chinese National Games?

Check the results below! 

Who Vs Who? -- 13th Chinese National Games Prelims Draws (MS/WS/MD/WD/XD)

The draws of the remaining events have announced! Since this is the qualifications of the Chinese National Games, this competition will not come up with the medalists. Names highlighted in yellow are seeds of the competitions. Comment below and guess who we will see in late August in Tianjin!


Mixed Doubles Draws

Day 2 Results: Men's Team & Women's Team -- 13th Chinese National Games Prelims

Day 2 Results -- First Taste of Victory for the Amateur Team Macau 

Day 2 of the men's team and women's team event came up with quite a breakthrough for Macau women's team. There are 33 teams competing in the preliminary round but not all of them are professional table tennis players.

Day 1 Results: Men's Team & Women's Team -- 13th Chinese National Games Prelims

Day 1 Results: Liu Shiwen's 2 Points Didn't Turn into Victory

In Day 1 of the Prelims of the 13th Chinese National Games, Women's team and Men's team events start the jam-packed competition schedule.


In the women's side, Liu Shiwen from Team Guangdong fought hard in the match against Team Henan. Despite winning 2 points for the team, it is not enough to beat Team Henan. She did not play in the match against Team Heilongjiang, which has competitive young players like Wang Manyu and Che Xiaoxi. Group 4, Team Shandong, with Chen Meng, Gu Yuting and Liu Gaoyang, is out of the league, making a clean sweep in the first day.

In the men's side, Ma Long from Team Beijing is still recovering from his injury and did not play in today's competition. However Team Beijing with Yan An and 16-year-old future star, Wang Chuqin, is still too strong to be defeated. In Group 4, the 'Group of Death', Team Guangdong has a close match against Team Sichuan. Lin Gaoyuan, the main player of Team Guangdong did not play in the match because of a cramping back pain. Zhang Chao, the 32-year-old veteran beat Zhu Linfeng and Lai Jiaxin of Team Sichuan, winning 2 crucial points for Team Guangdong. What a shaky start of 3-2 for Team Guangdong! 

The results are as follow:

Throwback Thursday: Who Were They? The No.1 Seeds -- Yan An and Wu Yang

The preliminary round of the Chinese National Games is approaching. Yan An and Wu Yang are listed as the no.1 seed of the men's singles and women's singles respectively, with the medalists of the Worlds, World Cup Finals and Olympics directly qualified to the final stage of the National Games. Today's Throwback Thursday takes us back in time to the days when Yan An and Wu Yang were emerging young athletes.

Yan An (left) and Wu Yang (right) in 2015 WTTC
Source: Sina Sport

The 'Hardy Hundreds' -- Line-up of the Chinese National Games Prelims

Ready for more names and tables? Here are part of the line-up. The list is too long, so I have listed some of the more-heard teams and pairs. If you want a complete line-up, click here. 

7 Events in 7 Days! -- Schedule of the Chinese National Games Prelims

It will be a week jam-packed with competitions! 7 events in one week! Before getting tired of watching table tennis, be prepared for the tables coming up. Yes, I am a 'tablesolic'. Here you go, the schedule!

More than the Marvellous 12 -- Team Draws of the Chinese National Games Prelims

We are always amazed by the dominance of the Chinese table tennis team but seldom do we see the depth of the team. With only three being up in the Olympics and five in the Worlds, many magnificent Chinese players do not get the chance to play internationally. Now we will have the chance to see some of the less-popular but great players and newcomers playing in the prelims of the Chinese National Games.

The Prelims of the Chinese National Games, Table Tennis
The prelims of the table tennis event will be held from 23 March to 29 March in An Shan, Liaoning Province, the city where many great players like Ma Long, Fang Bo and Li Xiaoxia are from. There are seven events, namely, men's team, women's team, men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.Players will represent their home province to compete in the National Games. This is also the first time that players are allowed to pair up with players from different provinces in the doubles events.