Firstpost Explains: What makes China a dynasty in table tennis, particularly at the Olympics-Sports News , Firstpost

Atlanta 1996. Sydney 2000. Beijing 2008. London 2012. Rio 2016.

There’s a common theme running through each of these Olympics. All the gold medals on offer in table tennis at these editions of the Olympics were swept up by one country: China.

When it comes to table tennis at the Olympics, China are a veritable dynasty.

Over the years, the Chinese conveyor belt has churned out superstars frequently. From stars like Deng Yaping, Zhang Yining, Liu Guoliang and Zhang Jike the torch has passed on to Ma Long and Chen Meng, who will represent China at Tokyo.

So overpowering is China’s dominance with the paddle at the Olympic Games that they have won 28 of the 32 gold medals that have been on offer since the sport was included in the Olympic program. And so vast is the gulf between China and others at the Olympics that while they have won 53 medals, their nearest rivals, South Korea, have won 18.

Moreover, at Rio Olympics it was pointed out that as many as 21 countries had at least one naturalised citizen, originally from China, competing in table tennis for them. A report in The New York Times stated that as many as 44 table tennis players competing at Rio were born in China.

Fast forward five years, and there are currently four Chinese paddlers in ITTF’s top 5 rankings in men’s singles and six Chinese women among the top seven women’s singles players.

So, what makes China so dominant in the sport?

“It’s no secret what China does,” says Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, India’s highest ranked men’s table tennis player heading to Tokyo Olympics. “They have a solid system in place. They have huge sports schools (including the China Table Tennis College, the world’s only college dedicated purely to TT that’s housed in Shanghai). Table tennis is the national sport for them. They have massive infrastructure in every city with many coaches, and so many players playing the sport.”

Detour to success

Sathiyan says he’s heard people say that there are actually more tables than there are players in China. That’s quite a statement given how the country’s table tennis federation estimates that there are 80 million people who play TT in China.

“But it’s not just about the infrastructure,” he adds.

When a country is so dominant in a sport, the assumption is that it must be good at all age groups. But Sathiyan points out that at the younger level, Chinese players aren’t exactly focussed on racking up titles.

“I have beaten a lot of Chinese players in the junior ranks. In that age category, a lot of them are beatable. They don’t know the exact tactics. When I was playing as a kid, I was always taught how to win. Indians want to win every match from a young age. But that’s not the way that Chinese players are taught. They take a longer route. If a child is not winning in India, he probably won’t continue in the sport. But that’s not the case in China,” he says.

Simply put, Chinese table tennis players play the long, waiting game, from sports school, to the provincial level and finally to the national team.

“They have a solid coaching system. From beginner to intermediate, they focus on the technique and the basics so much! They have a system which they want all players to follow like a book since childhood. Coaches all over China follow this roadmap. Then they step it up.”

When Sathiyan says step it up, what he really means is that they start dabbling in tactics on the table.

“The intermediate and the advanced level is where they really get into tactics. Things like service and receiving serves also comes under tactics. As does footwork. This takes a longer time. Then at an advanced level, they teach them the nuances of the game.

“And finally, at the national team level, the cream of the talent (20-30 players). There they go into very customised training for each player,” he says.

Sathiyan says that this roadmap for player development is where China has an advantage over others. He also adds that while a lot of countries like Japan spend on developing their elite players, China actually spends on grassroots development and elite stars.

“It must be kind of boring as a kid in China to be playing, because they don’t get too many international competitions.

“They don’t want their players to go into competition mode internationally at a very young age. At the age of 16, when these players are taught the nuances of the game and are explained tactics, they become beasts! They are almost unbeatable! The world fears them,” says Sathiyan.

Learning from the Chinese

Ask Sathiyan what Indian players can learn from their Chinese counterparts and he says: “Serve and receive technique is something which I have always learnt from watching them. Indians don’t give too much importance to serve and receive. We just want to play rallies and enjoy. The serve is the only stroke in your control.”

One aspect that the Chinese players excel at is rushing their opponents, he points out.

“Striking the ball even a split-second earlier gives the opponent lesser time,” he says.

Sathiyan confesses that he realised the importance of footwork around the table late in his career, an aspect he says the Chinese do not comprise on. His assessment is that while Indians are better tactically or thinking on their feet mid-rally, their Asian rivals have the edge when it comes to technique.

The Chinese are known to push the envelop when it comes to making pathbreaking innovations to the sport, such as the penhold grip popularised by Guoliang and Ma Lin.

Is China’s dominance under threat?

In May this year, state-run China News Service—the second-biggest state-owned news agency in the Communist nation — warned that at the Tokyo Olympics, China’s unparalleled supremacy in table tennis was under threat.

Their prediction of a looming crisis in Chinese table tennis was based on some shocking results seen at Olympic simulation events.

In one of the simulation events, players like three-time Olympic gold medallist Ma Long, a legend of the game, and Fan Zhendong, the reigning World No 1 lost out on the men’s singles title to Zhou Qihao, the World No 122.

In the women’s singles, Wang Manyu, who like Qihao is not part of China’s Olympics team for Tokyo, beat World No 1 Chen Meng in the final to usurp the title.

Can the Chinese juggernaut be stopped at Tokyo this month?

“There might be upsets here and there. With the World Table Tennis tour, you will see more players from around the world getting exposed to Chinese players.

Ask Sathiyan if any country can upset China’s apple cart, and he points to the host country, Japan, which has World No 2 Mima Ito in the women’s singles and wunderkid Tomokazu Harimoto in the men’s singles events.

“But I don’t know if they can break the Chinese dominance in the near future. Japan is close. But they’re still miles away from China’s level!” he says before turning his focus homewards. “If things go in the right direction, definitely the Chinese Wall can be brought down in a few years just like Indians ended China’s dominance in badminton.”