Paddle On: China's domination at Table Tennis

Ma Long of China at the 2015 World Table Tennis Championships

The Chinese domination in men's table tennis over a long period in time is a fact every fan and critic of the sport is cognizant of. China has been churning out Olympic and World Champions in the sport with remarkable consistency and what really overwhelms everyone is their sheer dominance and being on top of the sport for almost two decades. The world of sports has witnessed long streaks of dominance by nations.

Even soccer has witnessed eras of dominance by the Hungarian team (the Puskas and the mighty Magyars), Brazil (the Pele era), The Netherlands (Total Football), Germany and Spain (Tiki-Taka) in recent times. Similarly, cricket saw the reign of the mighty West Indies in the mid-70s and 80s followed by the Australian juggernaut in the mid ‘90s and 2000s, but none of them comes close to the Chinese domination in table tennis. Cuban Boxing at the Amateur level or the dominance of American Basketball team in Olympics could be a distant second.

There have been many theories propounded for the unparalleled success of China at ping-pong. Some attribute it to the highly regimented and disciplined sports system followed in China. Picking up a talented bunch of players at a nascent age, years of rigorous training, fine-tuning their skills and helping them imbibe the mental psyche of a champion to counter nerve-wracking situations has resulted in producing high calibre players over the years.

Some have even factored in the element of genetics, stating that men from East Asia (Chinese, Japanese and Koreans) inherently seem to be more flexible and swifter with razor sharp reflexes and better hand-eye coordination which has lead them to excel at table tennis, a sport which demands these attributes.

Hungary and The Czech Republic: early powerhouses of the game

A question which might come to every fan’s mind is whether China has always been dominating the men’s game at international level. Interestingly, their East Asian counterparts Japan and South Korea have produced world class paddlers who in course of history have upstages their more fancied opponents at premier tournaments. The Germans and the Swedes have also made the European presence felt and somewhat thwarted an all Asian sweep of medals at World events.

But if investigate the history of the sport (since the inception of the World Championships in 1926), it was not China but Hungary which emerged as its first dominant powerhouse.The Hungarians had Viktor Barna who could be hailed as the first major superstar of the game. Barna, along with Miklós Szabado and Laszlo Bellak became multiple World Champions in the 20s and 30s. The Czech Republic was another force to reckon with during that period with quality players in Bohumil Vá?a and Ivan Andreadis.Richard Bergmann (Austria and later on Great Britain) became the number one player of the 40s and 50s. The Japanese became the dominant side during the 50s with world champions in Ichiro Ogimura and Toshiaki Tanaka.

Rise of the Golden Dragon

China made their first impression on the World stage when Zhuang Zedong won the World title for three connective years (1961, 1963 and 1965) and Li Furong emerged as the finalist on all three occasions. Guo Yuehua, Cai Zhenhua Jiang Jialiang and Liang Geliang pioneered the rise of Table Tennis in China by winning medals at the world championship in the late 70s and early 80s.The Chinese came to the limelight in the 90s and perhaps Atlanta Olympics (1996) was their crowning moment when Lui Guoliang was crowned the men’s singles champion. Kong Linghui followed it up with Gold at the Sydney Olympics. Both Lui Guoliang and Kong Linghui became World Champions and eventually legends of the game after accomplishing a lot in their careers .Wang Tao, Ding Song, Ma Wenge,Yan Sen were the other notable Chinese players of the 90s who won several titles with the national team. The Golden generation of Chinese table tennis kick-started in the mi 90s with Ma Lin, who considered as one of the greats of the game started mesmerising the fans with his unique skills at the game. China produced multiple Olympic and World Champions in Wang Liqin (2001,2005,2007), Zhang Zike (2011,2013) and Wang Hao (2009) besides having Xu Xin and Chen Qi who dominated the ITTF Pro tour and made the nation an impregnable fortress. The present generation led by current World Champion Ma Long, Fang Bo and Fan Zhedong, Yan An and Yu Zhou look like world beaters and promise to keep the Chinese domination intact in the near future.

China at the World Table Tennis Championships

Winners: 1961,193,1965,1971,1975,1977,1981,1983,1985,1987,1995,1997,2001,2004,2006,2008,2010,2012,2014

Finalists: 1973,1979,1989,1993,2000

China’s European Rivals: Germany and Sweden

Germany

The German table tennis team at the 2015 European Games in Baku

The German challenge on the international scene has been spearheaded by their ace paddler Timo Boll in the last decade and a half.Boll has arguably been the toughest opponent for Chinese paddlers at the world stage during the last couple of years.The German has come out on top of his Chinese rivals at a few major tournaments.Dimitrij Ovtcharov has been another German paddler who has challenged the Chinese supremacy at the top. Both Boll and Ovtcharov have been consistently ranked in the top 10 players of the world. The Germans had world class paddlers in Patric Baum, Christian Süß,Bastian Steger and Ruwen Filus who combined well with Boll and Ovtcharov to make Germany Europe’s dominant force at ping pong in the last decade. Germany’s continental supremacy in Europe is proven by their splendid track record at the European Table Tennis Championships where they have won the 6 consecutive titles from 2007-2013. Other German paddlers who deserve a word of mention for their accolades achieved at the international level have been Jörg Roßkopf and Steffen Fetzner

Germany at the World Team Championships:

Finalists in 1969, 2004,2010,2012,2014

Sweden

Sweden has had a rich history in table tennis. The Scandinavian country was the dominant nation of the sport in the late 80s and early 90s before China took over the mantle. Sweden made its presence felt with paddlers of international repute in Stellan Bengtsson and Kjell Johansson in the 70s.

The Swedes had one of the legends of the game in Jan Olde Waldner who many call the “Mozart of Table Tennis”. Waldner dominated the game in an era where he had to compete hard and outplay the might of Chinese paddlers .He won the World Championships twice (1989,1997) and became a household name in the table tennis fraternity owing to his mastery of the game and immense fan following. Jorge Pearson was another Swede who left his mark on the international scene by competing in 7 consecutive Olympics and winning the World Championships in 1991. The Swedes were a dominant team of the early 90s, courtesy an impressive set of players in Peter Karlsson, Erik Lindh, Mikael Appelgren and Thomas von Scheele who combined well to make Sweden one of the powerhouses of the sport.

Sweden at the World Team Championships:

Winners: 1973,1989,1991,1993,2000

Runners-up:1983,1985,1987,1995

East Asia hits back:

South Korea

The Koreans have been competitive on the international circuit and often challenge the Chinese and the Japanese for continental supremacy at the Asian level.Jo Seok Huek has been their most successful paddler in recent times and a fan favourite too owing to his unique and distinctive defensive style of play in an era where attacking style of play has become the norm followed by most of the top rung players.

Korea produced two Olympic Champions in Yoo Nam-Kyu (1988) and Ryu Seung-Min (2004). Other notable Korean paddlers who have done well at the international stage have been Kim Taek-soo, Kim Moo-Kyo, Lee Chul-Seung and Oh Sang-Eun.

South Korea at the World Team Championship

Finalists:2006,2008

Third place:1995,1997,2001,2004,2010,2012

Japan

Japan was the dominant side in the sport in the 50s and 60s, but has played second fiddle to the Chinese in the last decade or so. Jin Mizutani has been Japans’ most succesfull paddler on the international scene in recent times.

The Japanese look to have the most promising set of youngsters in Koki Nawa, Yuto Muramastu and Maharu Yoshimura who could go on to become potential world champions. Nobuhiko Hasegawa, Shigeo Itoh, Mitsuru Kohno and Seiji Ono won international titles and brought back laurels and fame to Japan in the sport.

Winners: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957,1959

Runners-up:1961,1963,1965,1971,1977

East Asia’s dominance in the sport has been clearly visible with majority of the players coming from the Far East, but South East Asian nations like Singapore, Chine Taipei and Hong Kong have also produced paddlers of world class pedigree. Notable mentions would be Chiang Peng-lung, Chuang Chih-yuan (Chinese Taipei) and Gao Ning (Singapore).

It’s not just about Asia. European nations have also produced World Champions in Werner Schlager (Austria) and Jean-Philippe Gatien (France).

Vladimir Samsanov (Belarus), Zoran Primorac (Croatia), Micheal Maze (Denmark), Jean-Michel Saive (Belgium) and Kalinikos Kreanga (Greece) have been some of the biggest names in the sport who have achieved success at the top level and carved out a name of their own.

Portugal could be credited for being the most quickly rising nations in the sport in recent years. They have a bright future ahead of them with promising paddlers in Marcos Freitas, Tiago Apolonia and Joao Monterio.The Portuguese national team won the European Championships (a team event) in 2014.

It can be fairly concluded that although there have been nations which have challenged the Chinese supremacy from time to time, they haven’t been consistent enough to produce the same pedigree of players over a longer period of time to unseat the Chinese from top spot.

The might of the dragon continues to rule the sport. It will need a drastic change to make it more competitive and interesting for fans worldwide.

Edited by Staff Editor