13th Chinese National Games: Their Goals

I'm way more excited for the 13th Chinese National Games than I've been in a really long time, because there will be world-class Chinese table tennis athletes as well as upcoming future stars striving for 7 titles in 10 days. The Games will take place from 28 August to 6 September in Tianjin. With 3 days to go and no news about the draw of the single events, let's have a look at the goals of each team and athlete at the 13th Chinese National Games.

13th Chinese National Games: Men's Doubles Preview

In the past week, we have watched some men's doubles competitions from the past Games. If I have to describe the men's doubles competition in one sentence, I might want to borrow a quote from Forrest Gump. "Men's doubles competition at the Chinese National Games is like a box of chocolate!" You never know who is going to win. It's unpredictable, dramatic, exciting and enjoyable to watch! So let's get into it right away (catch up the CNG intro, XD preview and WD preview here). 

13th Chinese National Games: Mixed Doubles Preview

Now that you know the background of the Chinese National Games and athletes who have qualified to the main draw, we can move on each of the events, starting from the mixed doubles (catch up the CNG intro here). 

In Translation: Table Tennis Documentary About The Marvellous 12

As the big events like World Championships and World Tour platinum have ended, there are not many occasions where the top Chinese players show up. With 49 days left to go before the Chinese National Games, most athletes choose to utilize every minute they have to train behind the closed door. Well, we can still find some in T2 APAC, a pan-regional table tennis league and UTTL, India's professional table tennis league. However the number of Chinese players is nowhere near the Chinese National Games and the Marvellous 12. Fortunately, Tecent Sports has presented a documentary (was taken down after the Chendu Three incident) about the Marvellous 12 just in time to fill up the off season. 

In Translation: 2 Spots Set, Who Will Be the Remaining? -- Post-Marvellous 12 Press Confernece

After a week of intense competition, the Marvellous 12 has finally come to an end. Table tennis fans may be satisfied with the great matches played by the 'marvellous' players but many questions has popped out from our mind as well. The head coach of the Chinese table tennis national team, Liu Guoliang, answered some of them in the press conference. Here is the translation of the press conference.To watch the entire press conference, click here.