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Ping Pong

This show is the selected drama by NRTA

in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the PRC,

and was funded under the 2019 Art Creation of Hubei.

Episode 42

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance is purely coincidental.

Ping Pong Knockout Stage

You want to win?

Do you have to

be so calculative just because you want to win?

Do you have to use me like this?

Where's your sportsmanship?

Yu Ke Nan.

Can't you let me score once?

Where's your sportsmanship?

Sportsmanship

means winning.

Do I need to

use you to win?

No matter it's you,

Su Shun

or Yu Ke Nan,

no matter who my opponent is,

I will win.

You want to talk about sportsmanship?

Let me tell you then.

Sportsmanship

means winning.

Press Conference

First, let me announce

the players that will be

entering the World Table Tennis Championships

this time.

They are

Xu Tan,

Yu Ke Nan,

Ma Chuan,

Leng Yi,

Song Min.

Next,

it's time for the reporters to ask your questions.

Please make it short and straightforward.

Mr Fu, how did you make the decision

to let four veterans and one newbie

to participate in the WTTC?

The veterans are experienced

while the newbie can learn something new

to compete with players abroad.

By letting the veterans guide the newbie,

we can help the next batch of athletes

to gain experience from major competitions.

Okay. Thank you.

Mr Teng, I would like to ask this.

I can see that in this team, both Xu Tan and Yu Ke Nan

used to be under you.

One of them is the reigning champion

and the other one is aiming to become the champion.

It's possible that they'll meet each other in the competition.

What is your evaluation

towards both of your disciples?

In my opinion,

my evaluation is not important here.

More importantly, both athletes

have put in a lot of efforts

in the world of sports.

I really respect them

for this.

As for the competition,

I hope that they can perform even better

than before

and be in their top form.

Thank you.

Okay. Thank you.

Next.

I would like to ask Yu Ke Nan.

Now, everyone is saying that

you withdrew from the German Open before this

because you are afraid to face Xu Tan

before the WTTC.

What do you think about that comment?

Do you want to explain anything?

No. Thank you.

Any other questions?

Excuse me, Yu Ke Nan,

as the reigning champion

with the Grand Slam,

compared to other players in the next WTTC,

it must be more stressful for you because you need to defend your title.

Are you worried that you'll lose your title this time?

WTTC is as stressful to me

as it is to others.

There's nothing to worry about.

Thank you.

Hello, Xu Tan.

I'm a reporter from Shixiang Printing, He Zhen.

I've been paying attention to you for a long time.

How's the recovery of your knee after the last CTTSL?

Will your injury affect you?

No. I've already recovered.

Are you looking forward towards facing

Yu Ke Nan in the WTTC?

Your fans have been waiting for

this face-to-face battle for too long.

Song Min is still here.

I think this question is inappropriate.

If you are really going to face Yu Ke Nan,

what is your biggest worry?

His attack is so powerful.

I hope that he won't injure my knee again.

Thank you.

What do you mean?

Nothing.

What do you mean by nothing?

Look.

Both of our top players are already in battle mode.

They are ready to fight each other.

We should let them get back to the court

to train and release their energy.

That's it for today's press conference.

That's all. Thank you.

Xu Tan.

I kept my promise.

I've replaced Zheng Hao as well.

I owe you nothing now.

You don't owe me anything.

If I want it, I'll get it.

Xu Tan, let me tell you...

Yu Ke Nan.

Go back first.

Yu Ke Nan.

It's the press conference today.

What were you doing?

Yu Ke Nan.

Yu Ke Nan.

Stop right there.

Why wouldn't you let me ask him?

So what

if you did ask him?

There were so many reporters.

If you cause any scandal again,

will it help with the competition?

Why should I be afraid?

They are just waiting for me to be humiliated.

Yu Ke Nan.

No one wants you to lose.

Yes.

No one wants me to lose.

But they want to see the reigning champion lose.

No matter how many competitions I won,

if I lose this time,

they'll forget about my Grand Slam.

They'll only remember the fall of a champion.

Everyone wants to

see the reigning champion fall, right?

Just do your best.

Don't care about others' articles about you.

It's not yet time for them to doubt me!

Everyone thinks that I'm going downhill.

Even Xu Tan is mocking me.

How dare he do that?

Has he become a world champion before?

He thinks that I'm being unscrupulous to win!

Yu Ke Nan.

It's normal

for an athlete

to be the centre of attention and to be doubted!

If you can't get used to it,

how can you become

a real champion of the national team?

About Xu Tan's and Yu Ke Nan's

rude comments during

the WTTC press conference in Suzhou,

the team is very concerned about it.

We've decided to deal with it very sternly.

I'll apologise

on behalf of Xu Tan first.

As the team leader of the national team,

he didn't set a good example.

And he made an ill-fitting joke.

It has caused us a negative impact from the media.

As his personal coach,

I'm responsible for it.

Please punish me accordingly.

Yu Ke Nan was too aggressive.

It has affected the national team's image.

I'll apologise on his behalf.

For the WTTC this time,

Germany and Japan are coming in strong.

We should unite together

to fight this hardcore battle.

But we already have

an internal strife before the competition.

Both of you

should go back and ask your players to reflect on themselves.

Okay.

Okay.

Sit down.

The team has decided

for Yu Ke Nan and Xu Tan

to write us a reflective essay.

At the same time, before the WTTC,

they are not allowed to talk to the media.

I hope that all the coaches here

can relay this message

to your players.

Make sure that this mistake doesn't happen again.

Understand?

Yes.

Yes.

Hello, Xu Tan.

You have a competition tomorrow, right?

Don't be too stressed out.

I'll look forward to your victory.

Alright now. I don't want to disturb you from your rest. Bye.

Xu Tan.

Do you want to become the champion?

Yes.

You want to get the Grand Slam?

Of course.

Then, from now onwards,

remember this.

No matter what happens in the future,

remember this moment where yearn to win.

2015, Suzhou

Friendship comes from ping pong

and we are the water city connected to the sea.

The WTTC

is the highest level of ping pong competition that is organised

by the International Table Tennis Federation.

It's a very influential competition.

On the 27th of March in 2012,

the ITTF announced that the 53rd WTTC

will take place in Suzhou in 2015.

This is the fifth time

they chose China to host this competition.

More than 1300 athletes,

coaches and officers

from 134 countries are going to participate

in this year's WTTC.

The competition will be held in

Suzhou International Expo Centre

from 26th of April until 3rd of May.

There will be five events including men's singles, women's singles,

men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.

More than 1000 reporters from

more 200 media are going to report on this.

The court for this competition

has been set up since the 1st of December in 2014

with a total surface area of 110,000 square metres.

The main court

will be located in hall six of the Suzhou International Expo Centre

on the third floor.

The hall is more than 7000 square metres big.

During the game, eight ping pong tables will be set up

and the hall can hold up to 5300 spectators.

It's currently the biggest, most advanced venue

of the highest standard

in the history of WTTC.

Besides, the athletes who will be joining this year's WTTC

are said to be the strongest athletes in this decade.

A quarter of the top 100 athletes

will be gathered here

including the veteran from Germany, Fassbinder,

Jorge from Spain,

Demarc from Sweden,

Tomokazu Ryumoto, Shuichi Minamino and Ken Yasujima

from team Japan,

Kim Sung-wu and Park Ji-min from team Korea

and of course our famous

China dream team.

The team includes

Yu Ke Nan, the fastest player in history

to achieve the Grand Slam and the two-time WTTC champion

as well as the leader of team China, Xu Tan,

the world's number one, who is said to be

the twin star of Yu Ke Nan.

I love ping pong!

The WTTC in Suzhou this year is lit.

It's a competition between veterans and newbies.

The fans have deemed this to be

the most anticipated competition in history.

2015, Semi-Finals of the 53rd Suzhou WTTC Live

11-04

Beautiful!

China player, Xu Tan

is on a winning streak.

This is not easy for him.

Especially when he's sporting an injury.

He was troubled by his knee injury.

But now, he has completely forgotten about it.

Besides, he is

in this top form now.

He defeated his own teammate, Song Min,

to march into the final.

Congratulations.

The other semifinal is between Yu Ke Nan from China

and Ken Yasujima from Japan.

The winner of this round

will be facing Xu Tan

for a battle royale.

Who will be the winner?

We shall see.

03-11

Congratulations to Yu Ke Nan for making it to the final.

This highly anticipated battle between Yu Ke Nan and Xu Tan

is going to happen soon.

Please stay tune for

tomorrow's live broadcast for

the men's singles final at six o'clock tomorrow.

Brother Ke Nan.

I've received the money for this month.

My final exam will be here soon.

I'll do my best.

Make sure to get the gold medal tomorrow.

Okay. All the best to both of us.

This year's Suzhou WTTC is almost at its end.

The battle of the century between the twin star,

Xu Tan and Yu Ke Nan, is going to start soon.

Both players have different styles of playing

and they each have their own fans.

Both of their fans have been looking forward

to this battle for a long time.

When the tickets go to sale,

they are sold out in seconds.

It has set a new record in the history of ticket sales

for the WTTC.

At first, I wanted to go in together with you.

But there are so many people here. How can I find you?

How about this. I'll send you an address.

I'll go there first to wait for you.

Okay.

See you later.

You look quite familiar.

You look quite familiar.

Based on what you are wearing,

you must be from the ping pong team.

Look at you.

Am I right?

I'm not Fatty. I just look like him.

That's right.

But before the start of the game,

we received a shocking news.

Yu Ke Nan's personal coach, Teng Biao,

will not be able to attend the game today.

Yu Ke Nan will have to

go into this battle alone without the help from

his personal coach.

This is extremely rare.

So far, the national team

has yet to tell us the reason

for Mr Teng Biao's absence.

Will that affect Yu Ke Nan's

performance today?

Xu Tan.

Ten minutes before the game.

Lei.

You are here.

You even sent me this.

Can I not come?

Tell me.

Why are you looking for me?

I brought you some young Biluochun tea

from Beijing.

You came all the way from Beijing to bring me

Biluochun tea from Suzhou.

So creative.

Just be frank with me.

Let's play.

Okay.

It has been decades and you've never won before.

Today...

I want to ask you for a favour.

If I win, you have to help me.

If I lose, that's it.

How is it?

Okay.

The fascinating final is going to start soon.

Look at this year's hottest player,

Xu Tan from China,

the seeded player who is chosen to win. Here he is.

We'll always be with you on this path of glory!

We'll always be with you on this path of glory!

We'll always be with you on this path of glory!

All the best!

Entrance

We'll always be with you on this path of glory!

We'll always be with you on this path of glory!

We'll always be with you on this path of glory!

We'll always be with you on this path of glory!

We'll always be with you on this path of glory!

Next, we have another player under the spotlight,

our two-time WTTC champion,

Yu Ke Nan!

We'll be with you forever, Ke Nan!

We'll be with you forever, Ke Nan!

Let me tell you. This lad is really something.

We'll be with you forever, Ke Nan!

We'll be with you forever, Ke Nan!

We'll be with you forever, Ke Nan!

We'll be with you forever, Ke Nan!

We'll be with you forever, Ke Nan!

We'll be with you forever, Ke Nan!

We'll be with you forever, Ke Nan!

We'll be with you forever, Ke Nan!

We'll always be with you on this path of glory!

We'll always be with you on this path of glory!

We'll always be with you on this path of glory!

Both of them used to be my juniors.

What about now?

They are still my juniors.

All the best!

All the best!

All the best!

Based on the two players from China

who made it into the men's singles final,

they have totally different styles.

They are each unique in their own way.

Look at Xu Tan.

He's good with his forehand.

Besides, he's good at controlling the game

and laying down strategies.

Besides, he's a very smart player.

Yes.

As for Yu Ke Nan,

he has strong first three stroke.

And his symbolic backhand banana flip is his trump card.

So, it can be said that the strongest spear

has met the strongest shield today.

This star of the show

is so highly anticipated.

Okay. Let's watch the game now.

Okay. Thank you to the commentators for their wonderful comments.

We are at live right now.

Xu Tan will make the first shot.

Okay. Reverse serve.

A forehand loop.

And then, a forehand flick.

Beautiful!

Xu Tan is leading by one.

For the second shot, Xu Tan is doing a high toss serve again.

Backspin serve.

Suddenly, forehand.

Beautiful! He ended the round with only three hits.

This is a well-performed first three stroke.

Xu Tan started the game

with the first three stroke strategy.

He's quickly getting into

an excited state right now.

Driving straight into the enemy's den

is indeed brilliant.

But don't forget

who your opponent is.

Okay. Xu Tan, serve.

Backhand banana flip and forehand cross-court from Yu Ke Nan.

Smash, backhand block.

Okay. Beautiful.

Even though with Xu Tan's fierce attack,

Yu Ke Nan has reached the match point first.

Looks like I'm not the only one who has changed.

Yu Ke Nan's signature reverse serve.

Backhand flick from Xu Tan.

Backhand smash!

Forehand smash!

Good.

Yu Ke Nan who had been defending patiently

won the first round.

The interesting thing is,

before this, we predicted that this is the strongest

spear-and-shield pair,

the spear became the shield

and the shield became the spear.

For the WTTC this year,

we've used more than 40 new materials

to make these ping pong balls.

So, compared to the traditional

ping pong balls, ours are on a totally different level.

The power, the speed, the bounciness

and even the rhythm of the game

will be different.

To be honest,

this will be a greater challenge

for the athletes.

You are right, Mr Han.

So, in a game with this new plastic ping pong ball,

the athletes have to increase the power of their attacks

in order to improve the quality of their return shots.

After a long period of such a localised movement,

it can increase their strength in a short time.

But their muscles, bones and soft tissues

will have to sustain more injuries.

How should I say this?

Everybody knows that Xu Tan

is already sustaining a knee injury.

And with his style of playing,

especially with this new material,

this is a great test for him.

So, I personally think that

this is just the beginning of a good show.

Yes.

This is too taxing on both parties.

It's hard to tell who will be the winner.

Besides that, at the end of the first round, Yu Ke Nan

was completely in charge of the rhythm of the game.

Looks like Xu Tan's strategy was not good enough.

Hopefully, he can adjust his strategy

for the second round as soon as possible

and take control of the game.

Xu Tan, what's wrong?

Why didn't you follow the plan

that we agreed on beforehand?

Why do you want to compete the first three stroke with him?

I know you want to prove yourself in front of him.

But do you know?

Only by winning

can you prove yourself to be a great player.

This kind of childish behaviour

is pointless.

I know.

Okay, both parties are in the court now.

We've come to the second round of the game.

Just now, our commentators mentioned that

with this new ping pong ball,

attacking continuously

will be very taxing for the athletes.

So, in this round,

will Xu Tan continue to use

the same strategy

despite it being a disadvantage for him?

Backspin serve from Yu Ke Nan.

Forehand drop short from Xu Tan.

A backhand block.

A forehand loop.

He did a chop shot.

Beautiful.

Good shot!

Xu Tan is playing so wisely and beautifully.

He's moving back and forth while using the chop-and-attack skill.

He even performed the bounce attack.

His way of playing today reminds me of

the famous chopper, Liu Shi,

who has retired from the national team due to waist injury.

He really has the fine figure of Liu Shi.

We've never seen Xu Tan

using this chopping technique before.

Looks like he's even using

his secret weapon now to fight Yu Ke Nan.

Good shot.

That shot was beautiful.

Did the shot just now

look familiar?

Fu Jing Chun.

In the past, Mr Zheng asked Fu Jing Chun

to defeat Yu Ke Nan with this.

Look. For the past few rounds,

Xu Tan had been attacking

Yu Ke Nan's backhand.

So, this competition is getting more and more interesting.

Xu Tan is changing the course of the ball

to make his opponent move.

He's controlling his opponent now.

He knows the strength and weaknesses of

all of his teammates including all of his opponents

like the back of his hand.

Yes.

So, in the game, you can see

how well he imitate his opponents.

The quality of his shots is excellent.

After just a few years,

you know quite a lot of things now.

You can use all kinds of techniques now.

It's good to learn from others' strength

and use it for yourself.

But it's definitely not easy

to master it.

Okay. A serve from Xu Tan.

Backhand banana flip from Yu Ke Nan.

Backhand off-the-bounce loop.

Again.

And again.

Forehand loop.

Backhand off-the-bounce loop again!

Beautiful!

Yu Ke Nan's attack in this round

is splendid.

The fierce tiger.

Yu Ke Nan.

Yu Ke Nan is indeed the Grand Slam athlete.

Although he was quite confused by

the attacks of his opponent in the beginning,

he managed to adjust his strategies on time.

Besides, he has shown how experienced he is in this game.

His performance during this winning shot

proves to us again that

Yu Ke Nan

is the world's top player.

For him,

if he can win the third round,

he will become the third excellent player

in China who become the champion of WTTC

three times in a row.

Yes. On the other hand, Xu Tan's

strategies for the first two rounds both failed him.

With this losing streak,

will he be able to turn the table?

For this winning shot,

if it were a few years ago, Yu Ke Nan would not be able to win.

But for the past few years,

he had been very strict on himself.

He has already overcome the winning shot.

But he has never slacked off.

No matter it's in term of his skills or his mentality,

he's no longer the young lad back then.

Grand Slam will always be a Grand Slam.

Xu Tan.

I really don't know why you are playing like this today.

Do you know where we are?

This is the WTTC.

It's the place for you to realise your dream to become a champion.

This is your first step towards the Grand Slam.

Have you forgotten about

what you told me before?

I haven't.

Okay, both parties are in the court now.

We've come to the fourth round of the game.

This game is really like

some predictions out there.

It's four to zero now.

Will Yu Ke Nan's winning streak

end now?

Okay, serve from Yu Ke Nan. Forehand drop short from Xu Tan.

Backhand transition.

Forehand loop.

Xu Tan is leading by one point.

We can see that

Yu Ke Nan's backhand for this one

was not a good return shot.

So, he gave Xu Tan a chance to win.

Okay. Backspin serve from Yu Ke Nan.

Backhand attack, backhand attack again.

Beautiful. It's a string of backhand attack.

Both of them are really into the game right now.

Unexpectedly,

in this round of counterattack,

Yu Ke Nan made a mistake with his backhand

that is supposed to be his forte.

This is really unexpected.

Look. For the past few rounds,

Xu Tan had been attacking

Yu Ke Nan's backhand.

He's suppressing his opponent's backhand.

He's targetting his weakness with his strength.

This is the smartest strategy.

Backhand flick again.

Forehand loop.

Forehand smash. He missed the shot.

Xu Tan who kept attacking Yu Ke Nan's backhand position

managed to win the fourth round

with eleven to six.

Finally, he got himself a point.

For this strategy that you have laid down,

you are really calm about it.

All of these are just decoys.

This is what I really want.

Squat serve from Xu Tan.

Backhand drive from Yu Ke Nan.

Forehand loop from Xu Tan.

An edge ball.

One to zero.

Forehand loop from Xu Tan.

A backhand chop.

Another backhand transition.

Counter loop! Beautiful!

Two to zero.

Backhand corner drive from Xu Tan.

Forehand loop.

Forehand Falkenberg drill from Xu Tan.

Netball!

Beautiful! A lucky shot!

Three to zero.

Back straight from Yu Ke Nan.

Obviously, Xu Tan does not expect it.

Push. Push again.

A lob.

Now's a chance for Yu Ke Nan!

Smash shot!

Xu Tan hit it back!

Good shot!

Backspin serve from Yu Ke Nan.

Loop from Xu Tan.

Counter loop. Counter loop again.

Counter loop again!

Under the impossible circumstances, Xu Tan

wont the fifth round after some hardships.

Based on Xu Tan's personality,

before the competition,

he must have studied all of Yu Ke Nan's

competition recordings for the past three years.

He must have noticed that

during recent games,

Yu Ke Nan's backhand is no longer as good as it used to be.

So, he changed his way of playing since the beginning of the fourth round

by attacking his backhand.

Based on this kind of mindset and strategy,

he's indeed your disciple.

Ping pong is the same as chess.

If you make one mistake, it'll cause a snowball effect.

You can't blame your opponent for defeating you.

Because he has sacrificed even more.

Both parties are entering the court again.

In this WTTC,

after sporting

a three to zero result,

Xu Tan won the next two rounds

with incredible tenacity.

For the sixth round,

Will Xu Tan be able to

turn the tide

or will Yu Ke Nan

win the game once and for all?

Backspin serve from Yu Ke Nan.

Forehand drop shot from Xu Tan.

Backhand banana flip from Yu Ke Nan.

After two continuous backhand off-the-bounce loops,

it's followed by another backhand flick.

Another flick!

My fellow audience.

Something unexpected

has happened.

Yu Ke Nan

is kneeling on the floor in pain.

What's wrong with Yu Ke Nan?

Actually, Yu Ke Nan's

backhand has not been doing well

for a long time.

I believe that

not even Xu Tan knows about it.

Yu Ke Nan is not doing well with his backhand

because his shoulder is always seriously injured.

We can see that

Yu Ke Nan has requested for

a short pause from the main judge.

After checking Yu Ke Nan's paddle,

the main judge, Mr Malpoc

put the pause card

on Yu Ke Nan's ping pong table.

But

looking at Yu Ke Nan

it seems that he has

seriously injured his shoulder

from the repeating backhand shots.

Will he be able

to continue?

Lei, do you still want to continue?

We have to finish this chess game.

You've thought long and hard about this game.

Looks like I'll lose.

But I'm with the advantage here.

Even if this is a losing game,

I'll play it.

Sub by iQiyi & Ripped by skysoultan ♔ Follow @skysoultan on Instagram ♔

Ping Pong Little Drama

Suzhou WTTC

Suzhou WTTC.

WTTC,

World Table Tennis Championships,

WTTC in short

is organised by the ITTF.

For every championship,

the ITTF will choose

a table tennis association to host the game.

It is a very influential party.

2015, Suzhou WTTC

The Suzhou WTTC

in 2015,

is the 53rd WTTC.

On the 26th of April in 2015

until the 3rd of May,

it was held in Suzhou.

Suzhou

There was a total of 546 athletes

from different countries participating in

various events.

The slogan of the Suzhou WTTC was,

I love ping pong.

I Love Ping Pong

I, represent Suzhou,

I

the people of Suzhou,

the people of China

the world

and everyone on this earth.

Love,

Love

represents the passion of ping pong lovers

to be a part of the ping pong world.

Ping pong,

Ping Pong

obviously reflects

the essence of ping pong tournament.

And with the well-spirited promotion from China,

ping pong

slowly became

another form of address

for table tennis

that is internationally-known.

From there, you can see China's influence on ping pong.

Ping Pong