On January 18th, Beijing time, Olympic champion Zhang Jike revealed during a live broadcast that Hao Shuai is considered the strongest sparring partner in the national table tennis team.
Zhang Jike, 36 years old this year, is an Olympic champion and Grand Slam winner, and also holds the record for being the fastest player to complete the Grand Slam in history. He has now become a table tennis coach.
Hao Shuai, who is already 41 years old, was once known as one of the "Six Little Dragons" of the national table tennis team alongside Wang Hao, Qiu Yike, and Chen Qi. He plays with a left-handed horizontal style, using two-sided anti-rubber loop shots, and is particularly strong in his first three attacks. He was once described by Waldner as "the most talented player among Chinese athletes." He won the 2010 Team World Cup, but has repeatedly missed out on being a main player at the World Table Tennis Championships. He is still playing in Japan.
During a live broadcast teaching session, Zhang Jike mentioned Hao Shuai. He said, "When Wang Liqin was the main player, Hao Shuai was the sparring partner. When we were the main players, Hao Shuai was still the sparring partner. When Fan Zhendong became the main player, he also sparred for a period of time, but later he stopped sparring because none of them could win against Hao Shuai."
This sounds somewhat heart-wrenching, as Zhang Jike acknowledged Hao Shuai's strength, but he has never been an absolute mainstay of the men's national table tennis team.