On July 30, Wang Chuqin / Sun Yingsha (right) was in the competition.
Champion Chinese combination Wang Chuqin (left)/Sun Yingsha at the award ceremony.
Beijing time, July 30, the fourth match day of the Paris Olympic Games, in the table tennis mixed doubles final, the world's number one Chinese combination Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha defeated the North Korean combination Lee Jung-sik / Kim Qin-young and won the gold medal 4-2. The Chinese sports delegation won the sixth gold medal in the Paris Olympics and the first gold medal in table tennis at this Olympics. This is also the first mixed doubles Olympic gold medal for the Chinese table tennis team. Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha made an outstanding contribution to the national table tennis.
Arena duel
Live up to expectations and withstand the opponent’s tenacious counterattack
Three years ago in the Tokyo Olympics, the national table tennis team won a total of 4 gold medals in men’s and women’s singles and men’s and women’s teams. Only the mixed doubles final Xu Xin / Liu Shiwen lost to the host combination. Mizutani Hayabusa/Ito Mima. Failure to win the hardware became the biggest regret of the national table tennis team in Tokyo that year.
In this Paris Olympics, the world's number one men's singles player Wang Chuqin and the world's number one women's singles player Sun Yingsha team up, aiming to regain the "lost ground" in mixed doubles and become the "first shot" for the national table tennis to win all the hardware in the Paris Olympics.
During the preparation period for the Paris Olympics, the powerful "Shatou" combination performed stably and won all major championships including the Houston World Table Tennis Championships, the Durban World Table Tennis Championships, the Hangzhou Asian Games and four Grand Slam events. , just waiting for an Olympic gold medal.
Going to Paris, the "Shatou" combination staged consecutive comebacks on the road to the finals. First, they exerted their strength in the middle and late stages of the quarterfinals, and almost eliminated the Chinese Taipei combination Lin Yunru / Chen Siyu with a 4-2 victory. Then In the semi-finals, after falling behind 1-2 for three consecutive games, they once again defeated the Korean combination Lim Jong-hoon / Shin Yu-bin with a score of 4-2 and advanced to the final.
Facing the biggest dark horse of this tournament, the North Korean combination Lee Jung-sik/Kim Geum-young, known as the "Mysterious Teacher" in the final, the "Shatou" combination lived up to expectations, withstood the opponent's tenacious counterattack, and finally defeated the opponent with a score of 4 to 2 , won the gold medal. The scores in the six rounds were 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5, 7-11 and 11-8.
From the 2017 Asian Youth Championship when they first won the championship together to winning the Olympic gold medal in 2024, the "Shatou" combination finally "met at the top" in Paris. Next, the two will participate in men's and women's singles and men's and women's team competitions respectively, with the goal of helping the Chinese team win all five gold medals in table tennis events at the Paris Olympics.
In the mixed doubles bronze medal match, South Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon/Shin Yu-bin defeated Hong Kong’s Wong Chun-ting/To Kai-chan of Hong Kong 4-0 and won the third place.
Post-match remarks
Relying on tenacity and belief to win the game
After the Paris Olympics table tennis mixed doubles semi-finals, Wang Chuqin’s post-match interview also became the focus. Facing reporters’ enthusiastic questions, Wang Chuqin answered the questions Later, he said bluntly: "(The North Korean group) is a very strong opponent. Please let us go. Go back and rest as soon as possible. Watch the video and prepare." The sentence "Please let us go" went viral on Weibo's hot search .
After defeating the North Korean combination Lee Jung Sik/Kim Qin Young 4-2 in the final, Wang Chuqin said in an interview: "This mixed doubles gold medal has been on our minds for a long time. I have said before that I want to exchange my life for this gold medal. I did it today."
Sun Yingsha said after the game: "I am very happy to win this mixed doubles championship today. It is true that we have been preparing for this Olympics for a long time. (Tokyo Olympics silver medal). In the end, we did it. In fact, I think both sides played very well. I think it depends on my belief and tenacity to win the game. "
" It has a certain strength and brings us a challenge. It has great impact and its playing style also has its own characteristics. I think both sides of us played very well and every ball is important."Sun Yingsha said.
North Korea's "dark horse"
revealed that she had communicated with the Chinese team
At the post-game press conference, the three pairs of players from the championship, second and third place sat on the same stage and accepted media interviews. In addition to the "Shatou combination", Many reporters are also very interested in the runner-up North Korean combination, and Li Zhengzhi/Kim Qinying, known as the "mysterious teacher", also revealed a little information at the press conference, that is, they have indeed learned playing skills from the Chinese team. The finalists Lee Jung-sik/Kim Geum-young are different from the final champion "Shatou combination". The two had almost never participated in any international competitions before April this year. It was not until April this year that they made their debut in the mixed doubles qualifying tournament of the Paris Olympics. , and then won a complete victory and gained a ticket to the Paris Olympics. This was the first time in eight years that a North Korean table tennis player appeared on the Olympic stage.
This pair, who were unknown before the game, also came through all the way, especially in Paris. In the first round, they eliminated the Japanese pair Satoshi Harimoto/Hina Hayata 4-1, which attracted a lot of attention. Especially after entering the finals, they once forced China's ace partner into a desperate situation. Even Sun Yingsha said that their opponents were still quite strong.
So how did the North Korean combination make such great progress? How is their daily training? This also aroused the curiosity of many foreign media at the scene, and more questions were asked to this pair at the press conference. "Mysterious combination". Under questioning from reporters, the two North Korean players also revealed a little bit of information about their training. "We trained in our own country, and we train in North Korea every day." "Male player Li Zhengzhi said.
When asked about rumors that they had received training in China, female player Jin Qinying did not deny this statement, but said: "Yes, we have learned a lot from the Chinese team. They have always been a global leader. The best table tennis team has a lot to learn from. We have been in contact with this team that is ranked number one in the world. We also learned a lot from today's game. It's a bit regretful that we didn't win in the end, but I think we performed pretty well. I hope we can work harder in the future and strive for victory next time we face our opponents. "
Reporting/Photography: Nandu, n Video Special Correspondent Wang Yayun Li Zhanjun
Posted from Paris, France
