Can you imagine? Sun Yingsha, who has won so many championships and is battle-hardened, is actually playing in the Asian Cup for the first time.
The list for the 2025 Asian Cup has been released, with Sun Yingsha leading the charge. Normally, it's no surprise to see Sun Yingsha on the list; her strength speaks for itself, and her influence is huge, ensuring ticket sales. Hosts everywhere hope that Sun Yingsha will participate.
Let's give new fans a brief introduction to the Asian Cup event.
In football and basketball, the Asian Championship and the Asian Cup are basically the same thing, but in table tennis, the Asian Championship is separate from the Asian Cup, which is completely different.
The Asian Cup was originally one of the most important events in Asian table tennis, distinct from the Asian Championship in that it only features men's and women's singles.
The Asian Cup has had a tough journey since its inception in Wuxi, China in 1983, held annually but repeatedly suspended due to various reasons. The last time the Asian Cup was held was in 2022, with the men's and women's singles champions being Tomokazu Harimoto and Wang Yidi, respectively.
In the following years of 2023 and 2024, the Asian Cup was once again put on hold until it resumed in 2025, this time in Shenzhen, with the number of participants increasing from 20 to 32 for both men and women.
You'll notice that the national team has sent 12 players each for men and women, and other associations, including Japan, have also sent many of their top players, all aiming to achieve good results at the Asian Cup.
However, I've just learned an interesting fact: despite her extensive experience, Sun Yingsha is actually participating in the Asian Cup for the first time.
At first, I didn't believe it. How could Sha Sha, who has played so many games and won so many championships, have never participated in the Asian Cup? But upon further investigation, it turned out to be true. The reasons behind this are quite regrettable.
It's quite simple: when she was younger, she wasn't a main player and couldn't get enough playing time.
Once she became a main player, some Asian Cup events were given to other players. Sun Yingsha's best chance to participate was also in 2022, when she was invited, but after careful consideration by the coaching staff, the women's team spots were ultimately given to Wang Yidi and Chen Xintong.
Despite the national team winning so many Asian Cup titles, among the current lineup, only Lin Gaoyuan and Wang Yidi have won the Asian Cup championship. This means that for Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu, this is a brand new event.
This championship is something they particularly want to win; everyone wants to add the name "Asian Cup" to their championship map.
Considering Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, and Chen Meng not making the Asian Cup list, and thinking about Sun Yingsha playing in the Asian Cup for the first time,
I personally feel that the current selection system for the national table tennis team's events cannot be said to be unscientific or unreasonable, but there seems to be no clear principle; it's mostly arbitrary, with the coaching staff having the final say on who gets sent, which introduces subjective human factors that make it difficult for both players and fans to be satisfied.
For major international events like the Asian Cup, World Championships, and World Cup, if the coaching staff can choose freely, wouldn't it be better to adopt the previous direct qualification method, with round-robin matches where the best performers get selected, or to simply follow the world rankings? The current situation is that without clear selection rules and standards, the release of each list fails to convince the public.
Without rules, there can be no方圆 (square circle), nor can everyone be satisfied.
Championships are important, but for table tennis, if you want to enter the market and become a sport like tennis, you must make it acceptable to the majority of fans.
I hope that in the future, the national table tennis team's participation spots will stop being moved around.