Chinese six-time Olympic gold medalist table tennis player Ma Long is in Oslo, preparing for the first ever Waldner Cup named after Swedish legendary table tennis player Jan-Ove Waldner. Leading Team Asia as the captain, he will play against Team World’s Truls Moregardh and Bernadette Szocs together with his partner and teammate, Olympic gold medalist Chen Meng.
Before the event, Ma Long sat down with CGTN Europe and shared with us his expectations with the Waldner Cup and beyond. #WaldnerCup #MaLong #tabletennis
Before the event, Ma Long sat down with CGTN Europe and shared with us his expectations with the Waldner Cup and beyond. #WaldnerCup #MaLong #tabletennis
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00:00The dream team has become a zombie team.
00:03I don't know how it will turn out in the end.
00:06I think it's going to be a fierce battle.
00:09I think it's going to be a fierce battle.
00:29I think, first of all,
00:31Waldner, whether he plays table tennis or not,
00:35table tennis is a legendary sport.
00:40It has influenced several generations of table tennis players.
00:46As a child, I loved watching him play table tennis.
00:50He invited me to participate in this competition.
00:58First of all, if there is nothing else,
01:01I still hope to participate in such a competition.
01:05This competition is not only competitive,
01:08but also has some promotion meaning,
01:11or has changed the rules of the competition.
01:14I think for everyone,
01:16in addition to a good-looking competition,
01:18it's also fun.
01:20I think this is the purpose of participating in this competition.
01:24I think it has influenced a lot of people.
01:29As a child, I loved watching him play table tennis.
01:32Of course, Liu Guoliang, Kong Linghui,
01:35and other top athletes,
01:38I loved watching them play table tennis.
01:40After I joined the national team,
01:42Liu Guoliang, when he was a coach,
01:46said he wanted to see Waldner play table tennis.
01:49It's true that many Asian players
01:52don't play table tennis as easily as Waldner.
01:55He plays table tennis in a relaxed way.
01:58He is very inspirational.
02:00He always said that I should learn from him.
02:04This will help me in my career,
02:07as well as in playing table tennis.
02:10I have been working on this.
02:13But I don't know how it will turn out.
02:19I think it's similar.
02:21They play table tennis with their brain.
02:24It doesn't look like the modern way of playing table tennis.
02:27It's more like a top-level competition.
02:31It's more of a restrictive way of playing table tennis.
02:34It's not about me.
02:36Nowadays, more and more athletes
02:39focus on how to play table tennis.
02:41What kind of table tennis do they like to play.
02:43But I think the way Waldner or Morejad play table tennis,
02:48I think it's similar.
02:51It's not about how I play table tennis.
02:54It's more about how you play table tennis.
02:57I think it's a different way of playing table tennis.
03:02Or a different way of thinking.
03:04It inspires me.
03:06Morejad played very well in the Olympics.
03:12He played in the U.S. World Championships 3 years ago.
03:17I wasn't there.
03:19So I didn't pay much attention to him.
03:21But this time, I paid a lot of attention to his play.
03:25In the singles and team competitions,
03:29he played better than I expected.
03:34It shows that he is unique in the Olympics.
03:43I think it's an encounter.
03:47We haven't played against each other before.
03:50And this time, it's a 3-2 game.
03:54The game is shorter.
03:56So it's more of a coincidence.
03:58It's more important to see which team plays better on the court.
04:04We are looking forward to it.
04:07Before the Olympics,
04:10players like Boer, Lausanne, Ovtcharov, Shui Gu
04:17played against us.
04:21They won and lost.
04:23There has always been competition.
04:26With more and more people paying attention to table tennis,
04:31there are more and more videos on social media.
04:36More and more people are paying attention to table tennis.
04:39So more and more people are paying attention to table tennis.
04:42Of course, there are more and more opportunities for table tennis players.
04:47It's not only for the top players.
04:52There are not many 2nd and 3rd line table tennis competitions.
04:57But there are many young players who have the chance to participate in the competition.
05:02I think it's a part of their growth.
05:05It's impossible to win every competition.
05:08You need to accumulate experience.
05:10In addition to the European players,
05:13such as Lin Shidong and Xiang Huang,
05:15they have accumulated a lot of experience.
05:17They have grown up to be excellent players.
05:20Of course, if there is such an opportunity to promote table tennis,
05:27to make more people like table tennis,
05:30I have such an idea.
05:33I think that's the purpose of this competition.
05:38Norway is not a big or strong country in table tennis.
05:44It's my first time to play in Norway.
05:48I just played with two Norwegian kids.
05:51I can see that they like table tennis very much.
05:55It's an opportunity to interact with them.
05:57It's an opportunity to make more Europeans like table tennis.
06:02If there is such an opportunity,
06:04I am very happy to do so.
06:09I think European table tennis still has this tradition.
06:15In recent years,
06:17Lebron James is very famous in France.
06:21I think he can be compared to other football stars.
06:24I met him at the Olympic Games in Barcelona.
06:28Mourinho is very famous in Sweden.
06:32I think he is the most famous player in the first team.
06:36I can see their influence.
06:39In addition to their reputation,
06:41I can see their influence in their own country.
06:45Of course, Borussia Dortmund has a strong influence in Germany.
06:50I think in the coming years,
06:53China, including the Asian team,
06:56will be able to make more people like table tennis.
07:02I have played in Europe many times.
07:07I like the atmosphere of European people watching table tennis.
07:11I can feel that people like table tennis very much.
07:20I think from the perspective of competitive sports,
07:24I hope to do my best to win.
07:28I think it's hard for an athlete to change his habits or his original intention.
07:35Of course, there is another meaning.
07:38I hope to enjoy table tennis more.
07:41I hope to promote table tennis more.
07:43I think the perspective of the result of the competition
07:48is more open-minded than when I was young.
07:58I think every athlete will experience various setbacks.
08:01For me,
08:03when I was young,
08:05I hoped to win the championship.
08:10Of course, after so many setbacks,
08:15I tried my best to win the championship.
08:21Although I didn't win,
08:23I was still one of the best.
08:25I wasn't 100% determined to win the championship.
08:30In fact, the champion is what people remember.
08:34But for me,
08:36sometimes I compare myself with my past self.
08:40Am I improving?
08:42Am I trying harder?
08:43I think it's an important reason for me to be more and more stable.
08:53In fact, there is a cruel side of competitive sports.
08:56There is also a touching side.
08:59As an athlete,
09:01I am touched by various sports.
09:05For example, the match between Fan Zhendong and Zhang Mengzhi in the Olympic Games.
09:10There are many people who give up in the Olympic Games.
09:17I think this is the spirit of sports.
09:20Besides winning,
09:22I hope people won't give up.
09:25No matter how difficult the challenge is,
09:27I hope people can overcome it.
09:30Overcome the difficulties.
09:32I think this is the courage that I can give to them,
09:37whether it's learning or working.
09:46I wish you all the best in the new year.
09:50I hope you can do better than you did in the past year.
10:01I wish you all the best.