#1 Ma Long
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The most dominant player in the history of the sport, Ma Long is coming off the back of an incredible year having lost only twice so far. The favourite to win the gold by a long way, Ma Long will be hoping to become the 5th player in the history of the sport to complete a career grand slam (World Cup singles winner, World Championship winner and Olympic gold medal).
The only thing that can cause the world number 1's downfall is his own state of mind as Ma Long is prone to putting too much pressure on himself. Long is one of the most complete players in the history of the game and his coach. the legendary Liu Guoliang’s biggest challenge has been to calm his protege down in tough situations:
“For Ma Long, two things are most important,” he told AFP. “One is that when the pressure gets very high, to make him go to a bar and drink some alcohol.” The other was to distract him with chit-chat, he added. Moderation in drinking was key, Liu said, but the goal was to get the obsessed player to “relax a bit, because the demands he usually puts on himself are very strict and harsh”.
“I have to throw off the burden and the pressure,” Ma added. “That’s the only way I’ll get the title this time.”
It will really be a huge shock if Ma Long fails to win the gold medal at Rio 2016. The below video shows one of Ma Long’s best matches in 2016:
