Recently, Zhang Jike made a candid statement during a live broadcast, without naming anyone: "There are those in the national team who are blindly confident, very much so, but actually lack the necessary strength. Fans, don't be offended, results speak for everything. I won't name names, it's not good! I used to be like that too, but later I realized that blind confidence doesn't work if you can't win matches; you need to improve your own abilities."
These words caused quite a stir, although Zhang Jike did not name anyone specifically, the comment section erupted with accusations from netizens that he was subtly criticizing Wang Chuqin!
As the fastest player to achieve a Grand Slam in history, Zhang Jike's statement is entirely justified. Competitive sports are all about results, and completing a Grand Slam in just 445 days is truly unprecedented. Coincidentally, he achieved this feat at the age of 24, leading many fans to associate him with the similarly aged Wang Chuqin!
Netizens' doubts are based on solid evidence. When Zhang Jike mentioned achievements during his live broadcast, he was referring to the three major competitions: the World Cup, the World Championships, and the Olympics.
Although Wang Chuqin won gold medals in mixed doubles and men's team events at the Paris Olympics, the term "Grand Slam" only refers to singles, not doubles or team events.
It is an undeniable fact that the strength of the national table tennis team has declined. Previously, the requirement for participating in Olympic singles was to have at least one championship from the World Cup, World Championships, or Olympics to be eligible for the Olympic roster. Even Xu Xin, who sacrificed for doubles and the team, only qualified for the Rio Olympics after winning a World Cup championship in 2013.
However, due to the long peak periods of Ma Long and Fan Zhendong, who almost monopolized the singles titles of the three major competitions for nearly a decade, no one else could claim any of these championships from them.
Therefore, the national table tennis team had to make an exception by allowing Wang Chuqin, who had no titles from the three major competitions, to participate in the singles event at the Paris Olympics.
It should be noted that the 2024 World Cup singles title was still won by the 36-year-old Ma Long, yet he was not selected for the singles event at the Paris Olympics under the pretext that he "did not meet the participation standards!"
However, it is clear to everyone that this was done to pave the way for younger athletes. After all, another Olympic singles title for Ma Long would be meaningless, and could even be considered a "disaster" for other national table tennis athletes!
Many fans believe that Wang Chuqin's Olympic singles spot was given to him by Ma Long. If he could hold his half of the draw and reach the finals at the Paris Olympics, it would cover up the flaw of being able to participate in Olympic singles without having any titles from the three major competitions.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned, as his racket was stepped on and broken, causing him to fall in the round of 32 at the Olympics, creating the worst performance in the history of Chinese athletes at the Olympics. This is also a point of criticism from many fans towards Wang Chuqin!
If someone without titles from the three major competitions could be selected for Olympic singles, who wouldn't be sent? Lin Shidong, Xiang Peng, Liang Jingkun, and Lin Gaoyuan all have such capabilities.
Netizens speculate that Zhang Jike might be referring to Wang Chuqin for another reason: female team members of the same period as Wang Chuqin, such as Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu, have already made a name for themselves. Sun Yingsha could even achieve a Grand Slam by winning the Olympic women's singles title, but Wang Chuqin still has zero titles from the three major competitions!
Therefore, even though he did not name anyone, netizens generally believe that Zhang Jike was actually referring to Wang Chuqin.
Let's see what netizens have to say:
Zhang Jike calls this blindness; I want a Grand Slam at 24, I'm more blind than him!
I feel like if we look at the current main players' major competition records, we'll know who it is.
Xu Xin: Are you talking about me? Impossible, I also have a World Cup singles title.
Coach Zhang still dares to tell the truth, no wonder he still has so many fans even after retirement!
Who do you think Coach Zhang is referring to?