Liu Shiwen Denied With The Olympic Singles Qualification

The Chinese Team always have that happy trouble in selecting players for any big competition. Now, for the Olympic Games, the Chinese Team is yet to finalise the roles of their players, building some anticipation from their fans. Luckily, the ITTF was able to give a clearer picture on the lineup of the strongest team in the world. 
Sina Sports. Liu Shiwen is the highest ranking player in the women’s division but unfortunately, she was denied with the Olympic Singles qualification. 

The Chinese Team recently released their lineup for the Olympic Games. In their announcement, they indicated Fan Zhendong and Zhu Yuling to be the P-Card holders. This means that the Chinese Team has denied the qualification of the 19-year old Fan Zhendong for the Olympic Singles. 

It was reported that the ITTF has already sent the invitation to Fan Zhendong and Liu Shiwen to play in the Olympic Singles, basing from the latest world rankings. Both of the players are the highest ranking players aside from the already qualified Ma Long and Li Xiaoxia. 

Interestingly, because of a recent post of the ITTF in their Weibo account, a clearer picture of the women’s lineup in the Olympic Singles was drawn. 

“Liu Shiwen’s qualification for the (Olympic) Singles is denied by the Chinese Team. According to the lineup that was recently announced by the Chinese Team, not surprisingly, Li Xiaoxia will work together with Ding Ning in the Singles.” 

Liu Shiwen is the highest ranking player in the women’s division and naturally, she got the invitation to play in Olympic Singles. Unfortunately, the Chinese Team denied the invitation, which could mean that Liu Shiwen will be their third person, who would be playing in the Team competition.  

The Chinese Team is expected to report their Olympic Singles lineup before May 30.

China Announces Basic Olympic Lineup

The Olympic Games is less than a year from now and the schedule for the Olympic Asian Qualifier has been set already. This year, there will be a change and it will require the candidates for the Singles event to participate in the qualifier, that is instead of the Olympic third person. Each association can register 2 to 4 players for the competition in Hong Kong. 

Guangzhou Daily. The Asian Olympic Qualifier is already scheduled April this year and the Chinese Team has already disclosed their basic lineup. 

2016 is a critical year for all athletes because of the Olympic Games. For table tennis, the Asian Olympic Qualifier is scheduled on April. 

There are some changes in this year’s qualifier competition. Before, the Olympic third person of every team needs to participate in the qualifier. Now, it should be the candidates for the Singles event who need to participate in the competition. 

According to the rules, each association can register 2 to 4 players. In this case, head coach Liu Guoliang disclosed their basic Olympic lineup. For the men, they are  Ma Long, Zhang Jike, Xu Xin, Fan Zhendong. For the women, they are Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen, Li Xiaoxia, Zhu Yuling,

The qualifier will be held in Hong Kong on April 13 to 17. The deadline of registration for each association will be on June 15. 

Detractors and critics made me more determined to win squad trials: Xu Xin

We all need support in whatever we do. For Liu Shiwen, aside from her teammates and coaches, she has the Beijing Olympic champion Ma Lin as her biggest supporter. After she managed to win a place in the lineup for the World Team Championships, Ma Lin has already declared his utmost support for the Guangdong local. He even said he’s going to escort the player into the competition. 

Guangzhou Daily. Liu Shiwen is receiving a big support in her career as of the moment as the Beijing Olympic champion Ma Lin is going to cheer for her in person in Kuala Lumpur. 

 Liu Shiwen has already sealed her place in the World Team Championships, and we all know that the next step for her is to earn the qualification for the Olympic Singles. 

“There are only two places for the Singles and there is a lot of competition in the National Team. Pressure and motivation both exist.”Ma Lin said, and with that, he would help Liu Shiwen to convert pressure to motivation. 

Aside from that, Ma Lin has a big trust on the player. For him, despite past records showing Liu Shiwen’s defeat against Singaporeans, Ma Lin still believes on the capacity of Liu Shiwen. 

“Talking about Liu Shiwen’s strength, if she can just perform normally, then her winning percentage is still much higher than foreign opponents.” Ma Lin concluded. 

The 2008 Olympic champion also said that he will personally support and cheer for Liu Shiwen in Kuala Lumpur.  

Ma Long & Liu Shiwen End 2015 as World Number Ones In ITTF World Rankings

MA Long had the year of his career winning the Qoros World Championships, Liebherr Men's World Cup and GAC Group 2015 World Tour Grand Finals, which made him undoubtedly the best table tennis player on the planet. 2015 marks the sixth anniversary that MA Long first ended the year as world number one back in 2010 and December was the 41st month that the 27-year-old has occupied the top position of the world ranking. On his achievement, MA Long stated: "I am very happy to end 2015 as the World number one again! I am looking forward to showing even better performances in the 2016 Olympic year." Chinese teammates FAN Zhendong and XU Xin finished the year at number two and three respectively, followed by Germany's Dimitrij OVTCHAROV. Olympics champion ZHANG Jike, also from China, is at number five just ahead of Japan's Jun MIZUTANI. Japan's Yuya OSHIMA had the biggest rise in the world ranking in a breakthrough year. At the start of 2015, the now 21-year-old was listed as 71 in the world, moving on 12 months and the rising Japanese superstar is a lofty 18th in the world, and closing in fast on the world's top 10. LIU Shiwen managed to overcome her bitterly disappointing loss in the Qoros 2015 World Championships final to DING Ning, to finish the year as the world's number one women's table tennis player. On her way to finishing world number one for the third time in her career, LIU Shiwen won a record equalling fourth Women's World Cup in a highly successful year for the Chinese player. World Champion DING Ning finished the year in second position on the back of her victory at the year ending GAC Group 2015 World Tour Grand Finals. Compatriot ZHU Yuling finishes the year in third ahead of Japanese superstar Ai FUKUHARA. China's CHEN Meng is next in line at number five, above China's Olympic Champion LI Xiaoxia and Japan's Kasumi ISHIKAWA. 14-year-old sensation Mima ITO finishes a remarkable year, which saw her crowned as the 2015 ITTF Breakthrough Star as the 12th best table tennis player on earth. After a short break for the festive season, the world's best players get back into action at the 2016 ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open, which begins on 20 January 2016 in Budapest, Hungary.