[Archive] Wang Liqin: “I think of myself as an introverted person. It’s hard to suddenly change the personality you were born with.”

With rare technique and the qualities of a table tennis player, and a physique strong enough to challenge and surpass Europe. He had held the world No. 1 ranking for more than two years. And yet, at times he was crushed by pressure, earning the label of a man with a glass heart for betraying the expectations of those around him.

Having conquered Osaka two years earlier and put on the solid armor of confidence, Wang Liqin heads to Paris. Will Paris become, for him, the promised land after Osaka?

Wang Liqin●Wang Liqin

Born June 18, 1978, from Shanghai, China. Winner of the 1998 and 2000 ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals, men’s dobles gold medalist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, men’s singles champion at the 2001 World Championships, and men’s singles champion at the 2002 Asian Games. World ranking No. 3 (at the time in 2003) and current president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association.

The gap between top-class players and second-tier players, between the strong and the weak, is narrowing

　On March 27, 2003, the men’s team worked up a sweat in the morning at the National Team Training Center in Beijing. Training was off in the afternoon. With a TV interview and then a date with his girlfriend ahead, Wang Liqin changed into casual wear and appeared at the restaurant next to the dormitory.

He was dressed casually, in a black duffle coat over a burgundy shirt.

　On May 6, two years earlier, the final day of the Osaka tournament, Wang Liqin stood at the top of the world at the age of 22. It was not a summit he had climbed on momentum alone, nor a place he had reached easily with nothing but his rare gifts. At the time, even while earning the world No. 1 ranking thanks to outstanding consistency and strength on the Pro Tour, this young man from Shanghai, with a personality that was almost too gentle, was struggling.

　At the 2000 World Championships Team Event in Kuala Lumpur, he was expected to play but was left out of the team and watched the matches from the stands. At the Asian Olympic qualifying event before the Olympics, he was world No. 1 yet suffered the humiliation of failing to qualify. In the main draw, he came alive by winning the men’s dobles gold medal, but at the 2001 Osaka tournament, once again as world No. 1, he lost to Boll in the quarter-final against Germany in the team event and was then left out of the lineup for the semi-final and final. What was more, he could not even sit on the bench for the final; when the team won the title, he was in the stands.

　As if to vent that frustration, Wang Liqin entered the singles and beat Blaszczyk, Persson, Kim Taek-soo, and Chiang Peng-lung in succession. In the final, he trailed his teammate Kong Linghui by games 0-2, but pulled off a brilliant comeback to capture his first major title.

　Two years have passed since then. In October 2002, at the Asian Games, that four-years-only big event often called the “Asian Olympics,” he helped China win the team title and then, with the poise of a world champion, won the singles title in impressive style.

　Now 24 and in his prime, he will arrive in Paris as the undisputed ace of the Chinese team. Wang Liqin spoke calmly about the 2003 World Championships, just one month away.

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●―How has your recent form been?

Wang Liqin　It’s been pretty good. Technically, I’m making adjustments and adding new things while enjoying productive training.

●―Looking back on the two years since you became world champion at the 2001 Osaka tournament, how has it been?

Wang　Since winning the World Championships, I was able to win the Asian Games last year. I think I’ve also been stable technically. However, with the switch to 11 points and the adoption of the new service rules, there are unstable aspects too, and because the game has become more unpredictable, I need to work on new techniques and learn many things until I get used to it. Right now, I’m in the adjustment period before the World Championships, and it’s a time to refine my own style.