74
为伦敦奥运整装待发
RALLYINGFORLONDON
2001年日本、2005年中国，以及2007年克罗地亚
世乒赛上，中国队一次次上演这精彩一幕。2008年北京
奥运会标志了中国乒乓球队最辉煌的成绩，豪取所有金
牌。在全世界的注目中，这些国家英雄在自己祖国无数
仰慕者面前戴上了桂冠。
2009年，中国队横扫日本横滨世乒赛。去年5月鹿
特丹世乒赛上，中国队再次展现霸主风范垄断金牌，甚
至包揽女子单打四强！
在群星闪耀的中国队中，两名小将－23岁的张继
科和21岁的丁宁打败了资历更深的队友，在鹿特丹折
桂。这两名新星代表了下一代中国乒乓球精英，但在
2012年伦敦奥运会女子单打入围名单中却没有丁宁的
名字。
今年6月，乒乓球监管机构－国际乒联宣布，世界
单打排名前28名选手自动获得2012年伦敦奥运会单打资
格。然而，任何一个代表团最多男女各两名，与上届奥
运会相比减少了一名。这实质上使世界排名和世乒赛结
果失去了意义。这个决定也许对来自世界其它国家排名
靠后的运动员有利，但将令无数有才华的中国选手感到
痛心。
男子单打世界排名前五中有四名来自中国。这种
奥运入围规则似乎是为刻意淡化中国的霸主地位而设，
显然会令中国乒乓球受挫。它削弱了中国在数量上的优
势，但在男子和女子单打项目中，中国选手仍占绝对优
势。
国际乒联指定的奥运第一次报名截止前，王皓和张
继科被上报为伦敦奥运会男子单打参赛选手；而世界排
名前两位的李小霞和郭炎入围女子单打。
中国可以通过明年3月25日至4月1日在德国多特蒙
德举行的世锦赛团体赛中男女各获一个名额，但由于
单打赛中每个代表团男女各两个名额的严格要求，这
个“第三人”只能用在团体赛中。对于男队中的马龙以
及新加冕的女子单打世界冠军丁宁等中国队的剩余力量
来说，还有最后一线生机。尽管丁宁近来成绩卓著，但
表现还不如处于世界排名最顶端的李小霞和郭炎稳定，
因此丁宁将加入中国球员的大阵营，来竞争这个众选手
觊觎的团体赛第三人。
and theworld championship results. The
decisionmight be good news for lower-
rankedplayers fromeverywhereelse inthe
world,but therewillbenumerous talented
Chineseplayers smartingat the initiative.
Withfouroftheworld’sfivetop-ranked
malesinglesplayers fromChina, this ruling
isanobvioussetback fortheChinesegame,
andappearsspecificallydesigned todilute
itsdominance.Thechanges reduceChina’s
numerical strength, but Chinese athletes
will still dominate the betting inboth the
men’sandwomen’s singlesevents.
Wang Hao and Zhang Jike will play
in the men’s singles Olympic event in
London,nominated inaccordancewiththe
first registration deadline set by the ITTF.
Similarly, front-runners inworld rankings
LiXiaoxiaandGuoYanwill compete in the
women’s competition.
China can qualify one extra athlete
per gender through the World Team
Championships in Dortmund, Germany,
to be held from 25March to 1 April next
year. But due to the strict two-player
cap on singles competition, these extra
vacancies only exist in the team events.
This leaves one final Olympic berth open
to remaining forces like male player Ma
Long, and newly crowned female singles
world champion Ding Ning. Despite her
recentachievement, shehasn’tperformed
as consistently as Li Xiaoxia andGuoYan,
who remain ahead of her in the world
rankings. SoDingNingwill join the large
group of Chinese athletes competing for
this coveted third team spot.
The Chinese team has repeated this
feat time and again, with gold medal
cleansweepsat theWorldChampionships
in Japan in 2001, China in 2005 and
Croatia in2007. The 2008BeijingOlympic
Games marked China’s most significant
achievement yet with the hosts claiming
all thegoldmedalsonoffer. Heroesof the
nationwere crowned in front of adoring
homeaudiences,whilsttheworldwatched
on.
TheChinesetookallbeforethematthe
2009WorldChampionships inYokohama.
And at theworlds in Rotterdam last May,
China again demonstrated their supreme
dominance in the sport by sweeping all
goldmedals, even claimingall four
of the
women’s singles semifinal spots!
Twoyoungstersfromthestar-studded
Chinese team, 23-year-oldZhang Jikeand
21-year-old Ding Ning, beat their more
credentialed teammates to be crowned
world champions in Rotterdam. These
two superstars of the sport represent the
newbreedofChina’s table tenniselite,but
DingNingwill not fly theflag for China in
the London 2012Olympic Games singles
competition.
The sport’s governing body the ITTF
announced in June that the top28players
in theworldsingles rankingswouldqualify
for the 2012 Summer Games. However,
no more than two players from any
one delegation could qualify for singles
competition, downon threeper nation at
previous Olympics. This essentiallymakes
a mockery of both the world rankings
郭炎
GuoYan
第
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2011
年
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