Ma Long (CHN)

[hasa20]

A must-read interview! Zhang Lei, the head coach of Team Beijing, who has coached Grand Slam winners Zhang Yining, Ding Ning and Ma Long, just revealed stories of Ma Long in Rio and Düsseldorf. #MaLong #ITTFWorlds2017 #RioOlympics
“I want to write a book about Ma Long” --Interview with Zhang Lei
An oil painting of Zhang Lei hugging Ma Long is hung on the wall of Zhang Lei’s office. Since sending his student to the National Team some fourteen years ago, Zhang Lei has accompanied Ma Long on his way to a Grand Slam winner. “This kid has been through a lot.” Zhang Lei told the reporter of Beijing Morning Post, “As a coach of the provincial team, it is my job to assist the National Team. All my efforts are worthwhile.”
Communication “tactics”
Zhang Lei said jokingly that he will write a book about Ma Long when it is time. There are too many stories about the highs and lows of his student in the National Team. “Ma Long stood out the earliest but experienced the toughest. There is no sudden fame in his career. He overcame one obstacle after another.”
In 2012, Ma Long attended the Olympic Games for the first time, only to play in the team event. He was on the waiting list of singles. Zhang Lei recalled that the experience of the Olympic Games shook Ma Long up. “The new Grand Slam winner was not him, which was quite a shock for him. The following four years were tough in his career.” In 2013, Ma Long lost to Wang Hao in the semifinal of WTTC, for the third time. His career took a nosedive. “He lost to Wang Hao twice and Zhang Jike defeated Wang Hao twice to get World Champion titles. You can imagine his feelings.”
Ma Long does not like to talk about his true feelings. In order to learn what he thinks about, Zhang Lei has developed tactics. “Look into his eyes and try to tease the truth out of him. ‘How’s your sleep last night?’ ‘Have you overthought again?’ When he no longer smiles, he must be overthinking.” Ma Long had thought about giving up table tennis when he was down, “If I were not able to win World Champion in Suzhou, I would quit.” This desperate struggle led to a victory in Suzhou. Zhang Lei regarded it as the turning point of Ma Long’s career.
Achievements in Rio
Ma Long kept improving and was qualified undoubtedly for singles of Rio Olympic Games. During the closed training session, Ma Long had only one thing in mind, according to Zhang Lei. “He cared nothing but the Olympic Games. He did not drop a single training class and had to change eight outfits a day. I witnessed the whole training session and the result turned out to be very good.”
They did not meet in Rio during the whole tournament. Zhang Lei invited Ma Long to his apartment with his signature fried rice as a treat; however, Ma Long did not come. (*Note: Before winning her final, Ding Ning came to the apartment that Zhang Lei rent and ate Zhang Lei’s signature fried rice. That’s the reason why he invited Ma Long before his final.) “When I was about to make the fried rice, I forgot to pour oil to the wok before I put rice. I was overwhelmed by the upcoming final.” Zhang Lei said, “Then Ma Long called me saying that he would not come over and would have a nap instead. We kept talking for about 30 minutes, mainly on some technical details, and I tried to cheer him up. I felt settled after the call. I had done my job and there was no regret for the final.”
Zhang Lei was less stressed about the final than two crucial matches that Ma Long played earlier. “The first one is the match against Jung Young-sik in the second round. I ran away when Ma Long was 0-2 down. I felt hopeless if he was knocked out after four years of hardworking. I was told of the scores by others but I did not go back to the arena. I was worried that he would fall behind again if I watched. After the match, I did not contact Ma Long. I told Coach Qin Zhijian that the journey in the Olympic Games cannot be smooth.” The second one is the semifinal against Jun Mizutani. He led 3-0 and was caught up by 2 sets. Luckily he secured the victory in the sixth set.
Calm about the popularity
After winning the Grand Slam, Ma Long becomes popular on social media. Invitations to all kinds of social events pile up after Rio Olympic Games. Ma Long is calm about the popularity and knows what he really wants. “He doesn’t want his training and tournaments get affected by too much exposure. After Rio, he still follows his routine of rest and training. He attended some social events and shot some commercials right after Rio but soon came back to play CTTSL and National Championships. At the beginning of this year, he even asked me when we shall start to prepare for the National Games.”
After Rio, Zhang Lei discussed with Ma Long on the next four years. “I told him, ‘If you are serious about playing in the next four years, you have to resist all distractions.’ And that’s what he is doing. He has declined most of the endorsements and social events. He still stays focused on his career as a player and makes it clear that he will not go into show business. He told me that he will not sign with any agent and get restricted, especially from his training.”
Behind-the-scenes in Düsseldorf
With the goal set, however, Ma Long experienced real challenges in the new Olympic cycle. “The plastic ball was changed after Rio. But it was less than a month to practice with the ball designated for WTTC. The ball felt unfamiliar to him, which made him down. He was not sure if he could retain the title and how he would continue in the next four years.” Zhang Lei discussed with Coach Liu Guoliang, Qin Zhijian and Ma Lin on how to fix Ma Long’s problem. They reached a conclusion: only Ma Long can fix his own problem.
Before leaving for Germany, Ma Long got three injections to reduce the impact of injuries: one on hip joint, one on elbow and one on wrist. It was his mental form that made the coaches concerned. “After two rounds, it was getting better. He built up confidence after the match against Timo Boll. His form was coming back and he found some tricks to play the new ball.” Zhang Lei was still thrilled by the seven-game final, “He almost lost. Unpleasant though it may be, the champion is like a windfall. But at the same time, the champion gives him some confidence for Tokyo Olympic Games. This is Ma Long. As long as he wins major titles, problems are fixed.”
Improvements needed for Tokyo
Right after Düsseldorf, while Ma Long will play Japan Open and China Open, Zhang Lei is making a new plan. “I am thinking of a question: how shall Ma Long improve? After the final of WTTC, he told me that he suddenly felt a drop in energy and focus after leading 3-1. The drop resulted in losing the next two sets. He could have won by 4-1 if it were one year ago. Not only the physical strengths and focus were affected, his footwork was no longer continuous.”
Ma Long is approaching 29. It is not easy to keep the current level; however, he has to keep improving to be competitive because of the challenge from young teammates. Zhang Lei said Ma Long is getting along well with his new coach Ma Lin and he is working with the coaches of the National Team to find solutions to accelerate Ma Long. ”The new ball has way less spins. The speed increases and so does the randomness of the game. Ma Long has to improve his physical strengths and footwork. Be faster before the energy drops.” Zhang Lei will go to Chengdu and meet Liu Guoliang, Qin Zhijian and Ma Lin during China Open next week. “We need to work out a full schedule, including physical training and recovery.” Next Zhang Lei and Team Beijing will prepare for the National Games.

[Mark5]

Habe es erst heute gelesen, Ma Long hat nun auch einen Hochschulabschluss (Studium in Wirtschaft und Management).

Respekt!
Auch wenn Ma Long's Abschluss nicht mit dem eines normalen Studenten vergleichbar sein wird - viel Zeit zum Studieren hatte er nicht - hat er seine verbleibende Zeit anscheinend sinnvoll genutzt.

Auszug aus Artikel:
"... In seiner Abschlussarbeit widmete sich der 28-Jährige Marketingstrategien für die chinesische Super League. Im Schlussteil listet der Weltmeister und Olympiasieger vier Aspekte auf, wie das Wachstum der Liga angekurbelt werden könnte: Die Spiele müssten interaktiver, spektakulärer und unterhaltsamer, die Partnerschaften mit Sponsoren gestärkt werden. Zudem müsse mehr in den Bereichen Kommerzialisierung und Marketing der Liga gemacht und außerdem die Eigentumsrechte geklärt werden..."

[Jeff der Busfahrer]

Mir ist zu Ohren gekommen, dass Ma Long die letzten Tagen in China wieder an Wettkämpfen teilgenommen hat.

Dabei hat er wohl gegen einen sechzehnjährigen Chinesen in einem Satz 0:10 zurückgelegen !, den Satz dann zu ca. 5:11 verloren. Ma Long gewann dieses Spiel dann jedoch noch im Entscheidungssatz. Aber 0:10 ist schon ne Ansage. :-)

Also in China wächst auf jeden Fall wieder viel nach. :-)

[Mark5]

wo ist die Info her?
Ist das was Offizielles oder war das ein "Spaßtunier"?

[Jeff der Busfahrer]

Zitat von Mark5

wo ist die Info her?

Quelle: Menschliches Wesen chinesischer Herkunft mit guten bis sehr guten Deutschkenntnissen, Name wird nicht bekanntgegeben um die Quelle weiterhin offen zu halten.

[Basti92]

Die chinesische Quelle redet aber nicht von diesem Spiel, das drei Tage vor deinem Post auf youtube hochgeladen wurde?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZR34WB6zkk

Wenn ja, dieses war die Quali für die China-Spiele und vor den China Open. Allerdings gewinnt Ma hier 3:1 und verliert den 3. Satz sogar 11:1 (nachdem sein Aufschlag bei 0:10, im Video 7:15, ins Netz gespielt wurde). Kann natürlich auch sein, dass ein Ma Long öfter mal 0:10 gegen einen Chinesen zurückliegt...

[TKOlit]

Zitat von Jeff der Busfahrer

Mir ist zu Ohren gekommen, dass Ma Long die letzten Tagen in China wieder an Wettkämpfen teilgenommen hat.

Dabei hat er wohl gegen einen sechzehnjährigen Chinesen in einem Satz 0:10 zurückgelegen !, den Satz dann zu ca. 5:11 verloren. Ma Long gewann dieses Spiel dann jedoch noch im Entscheidungssatz. Aber 0:10 ist schon ne Ansage. :-)

Also in China wächst auf jeden Fall wieder viel nach. :-)

Seit wann werden in chinesischen Umerziehungslagern Tischtenniswettkämpfe augetragen?

[Jeff der Busfahrer]

Zitat von Basti92

Die chinesische Quelle redet aber nicht von diesem Spiel, das drei Tage vor deinem Post auf youtube hochgeladen wurde?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZR34WB6zkk

Wenn ja, dieses war die Quali für die China-Spiele und vor den China Open. Allerdings gewinnt Ma hier 3:1 und verliert den 3. Satz sogar 11:1 (nachdem sein Aufschlag bei 0:10, im Video 7:15, ins Netz gespielt wurde). Kann natürlich auch sein, dass ein Ma Long öfter mal 0:10 gegen einen Chinesen zurückliegt...

Okay, es scheint mir sehr wahrscheinlich, dass es um dieses Spiel geht. Also schade, da hat Ma Long wohl doch noch nicht wettkampfmässig gespielt nach den China Open.

Dann wäre das ja geklärt.

Aber der dritte Satz ist echt der Hammer, der Junge gibt Ma Long voll den Einlauf. bei 10:0 schenkt er Ma Long sogar den elften Punkt. Und in meinen Augen war kein Punkt unverdient von dem Bub. Sensationell.

[cloud 9]

Zitat von Jeff der Busfahrer

Mir ist zu Ohren gekommen, dass Ma Long die letzten Tagen in China wieder an Wettkämpfen teilgenommen hat.

Quelle: Menschliches Wesen chinesischer Herkunft

Diese "Quelle" scheint aber nicht besonders zuverlässig und informiert (und vor allem nicht: qualifiziert?) zu sein...

Oder wollte sie einfach nur etwas Wind aus den Segeln nehmen?

[Jeff der Busfahrer]

da hast Du Recht, ganz schwache Quelle und ganz schwache ungeprüfte Weitergabe von mir.