In this Olympic Games, which China players represent foreign countries in table tennis competitions? What countries do they represent?

China Journal Online News: Not long ago, the best table tennis players from the United States and Canada gathered in Vancouver, Canada, and launched a fierce competition for the qualification to represent their respective countries in this year's Beijing Olympic Games.

Of the eight American players, only one is non-Asian, and five players were born in China. Of the eight Canadian players, six were born in China or originally from China.

China's advantage in table tennis in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is unmatched by other countries in the world, but it also brings a thorny problem: looking around the world, almost all table tennis masters are from China. This phenomenon is really mixed.

"The people of China urge us to train harder and improve our level." Eric Owens said that he was the only American-born male contestant in this audition. "However, many people really don't like them to cross the ocean and become members of the American national team."

Because there are too many top table tennis players in China, many people have changed their nationality in recent years in order to join the national table tennis teams of other countries. Most countries, such as the United States, welcome these people because they give them the opportunity to participate in major international competitions. In America, many people only play table tennis in the basement on rainy days. But as a result, in the face of the national team full of China players, there are fewer and fewer local fans, which may also hinder the development of local first-class players.

At the World Table Tennis Championships held in Guangzhou last month, about 170 players representing other countries came from China, accounting for about 1/4 of the total number of players. Even China people have appeared in Japan's national team, and the relationship between Japan and China, once a table tennis power, has always been ordinary. The United States pinned its hopes of winning medals in this year's Olympic Games on Gao Jun: the 39-year-old athlete won a silver medal in the 1992 Olympic Games on behalf of his motherland China.

"If you go to see the Polish-French table tennis match, you will find people all over China playing around." Dan Smiler said. He is one of the top American native players in international table tennis in recent decades and now coaches the American men's table tennis team.

In order to solve the above problems, the ITTF adopted a regulation in February this year: players from China must live in the country for a certain period of time before they can play for other countries, and the specific calculation method depends on the players' age. For example, those 18 ~ 20-year-old players must live in the naturalized country for 7 years before they can participate in some international competitions; China players aged 265,438+0 can never represent other countries in international competitions.

This regulation will take effect in September this year, but it does not apply to the Olympic Games. However, if this regulation leads to a decrease in the number of China players going abroad, it may affect the table tennis events of the Olympic Games. "We must take action to train young people, not just introduce talents from China." Rudy Spool, chairman of the Rules Committee of the International Table Tennis Federation, said.

Speer admits that his native Austria has also been influenced by this trend, and he himself is the president of the Austrian Table Tennis Federation. The Austrian national team has Liu Jia, who ranks 18 among women table tennis players in the world. /kloc-immigrated to Austria 0/2 years ago, when she was only 13 years old, because her mother thought she had no chance to be selected for the China national team. With Liu Jia and several other China players, the Austrian table tennis team ranks in the top ten in the world.

Tony Casfer, head of the Canadian Table Tennis Association, believes that this new regulation conflicts with the purpose of globalization and is suspected of being illegal. "If you are afraid of introducing second-rate players from China, how can you compete with the best players from China?" He asked in return.

The only one who can compete with China is Sweden, especially the legendary player Waldner. In the six years since the late 1980s, Swedish players have won many victories. Players from some other countries have broken the invincible myth of China, but no country has produced so many table tennis masters like China.

Gao Jun, who will represent the United States in this summer's Olympic Games, was the third female table tennis player in the world when she was still playing for China's national team. 1994 She stopped playing and immigrated to the United States, but she picked up her racket again a few years ago. Since there is no competitor in Maryland where she lives, she

Return to China for training. "If China competes with American players, the result is 1 1: 0." Gao Jun said, "If the United States invites a player from China to play, the result may be very close. What kind of results do you want to see? "