Ma Long
"Glory is attained from hard work, step by step" -Ma Long
Ma Long is a powerhouse of a table tennis player. He was born in 1988 in Anshan China. As a 3 year old he was sent to table tennis practice by his parents. Soon he came to love it and started playing in small table tennis competitions until at the age of 16 he became fully invested into being a professional table tennis athlete. Even from a young age he and his best friend Zhang Jike played many powerful table tennis players! He was very upset and became slightly unmotivated when Zhang was kicked out of the national team for his bad temper. Soon Zhang made it back and kept training along with Ma.
World-championships troubles + success
Quickly he became one of the top picks for the Chinese national team and found himself in his first major competition which was the 2009 world championships! He had easy games all up until the semi-finals stage. He faced world seed-2 Wang Hao in this game. During this match Wang overpowered Ma and defeated him. 2011 was no different, Ma still losing against Wang Hao in the semi-finals stage. Soon he was here in the same position again! 2013, Paris semi-finals stage. Across the table, Wang Hao. This year Ma had the advantage. Wang was growing old and Ma thought he would win this time, but through some sort of strength inside of him Wang once again for the third time in a row defeated Ma! This sent Ma into a spiraling losing streak to the point where the Chinese national team offered him the chance to play in more competitions and he refused. Soon he again found some more motivation and in 2015 he joined in the team for the world championships. This time he had more motivation than ever to defeat anybody trying to stop him in his path to become a world-champion! In the finals in one of the most exciting games of the decade he defeated rising star Fang Bo in a thriller of a match! He had completed his lifetime goal and was content with his achievements now, but this would not stop him on his quest to be the greatest player of all time!!! During the 2017 World championships and also the 2019 world championships he won as well! This year in the 2021 world championships Ma will not be participating in the championships.
Forced into retirement?
In China there is a 'rule' for table tennis athletes that hasn't been officially announced but seems to be part of the philosophy of letting the younger generations play on. This rule is that all players will retire by the age of 35. If you look at the retirement ages from Chinese legends they will be younger than the rest of the world. Ma Lin- 33, Ding Ning- 31, Wang Liqin- 34, Wang Hao- 34. This may be 'old' in China but compared to other countries that is still considered Still middle aged. If you look at Timo Boll he is 40 but still playing in high intensive table tennis for Germany, this young retirement pattern is the effect of intense and extremely strong internal competition in China. The second one person makes a little slip or loses to a foreigner, a new candidate is sent out to play. So if you look at the pattern Ma Long is due to retire at this point. Ma Long is also going to be absent from the 2021 Houston world table tennis championships, and at this point the younger generation of players are taking the place of Ma, some of the players show lots of promise (e.g. Lin Goayuan, Wang Chuqin.) Many people however think that Ma should be able to keep playing at the top level and should still be sent out until he is 40. This is unrealistic. China's internal competition is very hard and tense. If you look at Timo Boll, who is a European legend he is 40 now and he plays inconsistently and has less energy and power in his shots. At this point in time Ma Long is already retired.
What is Ma Longs cause of success?
Was it pure hard work and dedication? Or was it just a lucky fluke? I am 100% certain that Ma Long's success did not come as luck out of nowhere. Even as a child he worked extremely hard to work towards his goals of a professional table tennis athlete. Him being out of the prime of his life without having won many major tournaments may have been a step back, but his hard work and determination gave him the edge over everybody else, and soon he became unstoppable. Some may believe his plays are total and complete luck but this is clearly false. Ma Long is a table tennis machine fueled by hard work and determination.
Ma Long has deeply inspired me and countless other people. Every time I watch one of his games he plays his absolute best! Even when he loses he doesn't just "give away" the game. I've looked at how hard he works and his work doesn't stop off camera either! He has helped me find strength to play my absolute best no matter what circumstance i'm in.
In conclusion, Ma Long is very notable from being the Michael Jordan of table tennis to being a kind nice man outside of the table from charity work to playing with fans in public tables, Ma Long is a very notable person. While he might be retiring, Ma will no doubt be the GOAT of table tennis for decades to come. Go dragon!
