She wrote in the article: "From today on, my career as a table tennis player will come to an end. In the future, I will work hard towards new dreams and challenge new possibilities."

Source: China News Agency

Author: Wang Hao

She wrote in the article: "From today on, my career as a table tennis player will come to an end. In the future, I will work hard towards new dreams and challenge new possibilities ."

Rio Olympics table tennis In the women's singles final, Ding Ning defeated Li Xiaoxia 4-3 and won the championship. Photo by China News Network reporter Du Yang

In recent years, Ding Ning has gradually faded out of the table tennis arena due to injuries and other reasons. As the defending champion, she was not present at the Tokyo Olympics. Fans have actually been mentally prepared for Ding Ning's retirement, but when the day finally comes, they are still reluctant to say goodbye to "Team Ning".

Just as Ding Ning wrote in his long farewell article: "Table tennis taught me that no matter at the peak or at the trough, always keep a brave heart." . The road to pursuing dreams is never easy. Sportsmanship is far away. It’s more than winning and losing.”

The Chinese table tennis team has never lacked champions, but behind every seemingly “natural” championship there is sweat and tears. This is the case for Ding Ning. Despite her Grand Slam reputation, her table tennis journey has not been smooth.

Setbacks

The story of many talented players begins the same way. Ding Ning showed great talent at a very young age and smoothly joined the Chinese table tennis team, a team of kings. But at such a young age, she did not expect that setbacks would come so quickly.

In 2010, Ding Ning participated in the Moscow World Table Tennis Championships as a main force for the first time. To use her words in an interview, her impression of that year should be gray. ‘’

Ding Ning (left) and Liu Shiwen (right). Picture source: Osports All Sports Photo Agency

The Chinese team composed of Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen, Guo Yan suffered an upset loss to Singapore in the final, and lost the opportunity for the women's team to win the World Table Tennis Championships for the ninth consecutive time. In the first game of the final, Ding Ning was reversed by Feng Tianwei 2:3, while Liu Shiwen lost two points.

Looking back, this game had a huge impact on Chinese women's table tennis. Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen, who were still young players, were under great pressure from public opinion. Even after Liu Shiwen sadly lost the mixed doubles gold medal at this year's Tokyo Olympics, many media brought up the past and analyzed the " butterfly effect " of the game 11 years ago.

After that, Ding Ning did not get a chance to play in the Asian Games team competition and the World Cup team competition. Born in 1990, she was only in her early 20s at that time. At an age when ordinary people were still enjoying their comfortable school days, Ding Ning arrived early at the critical moment that determined the direction of her career.

It is difficult for us to know whether she shed tears alone on a quiet night, but what we can be sure of is that she must have been sweating day after day in order to get out of the predicament.

In the fourth round of the women's singles table tennis match at the Olympic Games, Chinese player Ding Ning defeated Hong Kong player Du Kaiqin of Hong Kong, China, 4-0 and advanced to the women's singles quarterfinals. Photo by China News Network reporter Tomita

With gritted teeth and perseverance, Ding Ning regained her competitiveness and entered the singles list for the London Olympics. In 2011, she had already won the World Cup and World Championships, and the Grand Slam seemed to be waiting for her in London, England.

tears

London Olympics table tennis women's singles final, Ding Ning was punished by the referee and cried.

With the dream of a Grand Slam, Ding Ning made it all the way to the London Olympics finals, where her opponent was teammate Li Xiaoxia. This was supposed to be a competition at the highest level in women's table tennis, but the referee's decision disrupted the rhythm.

Ding Ning, who was continuously penalized for serving, protested to the referee, but was given a red card instead. 's tearful game ended with Ding Ning's defeat.

In the women's singles table tennis final of the London Olympics, Chinese player Li Xiaoxia defeated her teammate Ding Ning and won the gold medal. The picture shows Ding Ning being depressed and crying after being sentenced to a serving violation.Photo by reporter Sheng Jiapeng

In fact, in subsequent international competitions, we have almost never seen such harsh penalties, but perhaps it is a joke of fate that such a thing happened in such an important game for Ding Ning. inside.

For Ding Ning, who is still young, there is still a chance to hit the Grand Slam. But what's more terrifying than losing the title is the psychological shadow this game left on her. After that, Ding Ning fell into a trough.

Although setbacks once confused Ding Ning, because she “always maintains a brave heart”, the temporary difficulties still failed to stop her from moving forward.

After four years, Ding Ning met Li Xiaoxia again in the Olympic finals. She fell behind for a while, but this time, Ding Ning finally stood on the highest podium in Olympic singles in Rio.

After winning the last ball, tears burst into Ding Ning's eyes. She cried like a child on the court, and at the award ceremony , she picked up the gold medal and smiled like a child. Grand Slam, she finally got it.

The Rio Olympics table tennis women's singles final was held among Chinese athletes. After seven rounds of fierce competition, Ding Ning finally defeated Li Xiaoxia 4-3 and won the championship. Photo by Xinwang reporter Du Yang

People like to tell the stories of London and Rio together, which seems more inspiring, but they often ignore the long period of four years.

In preparation for the Rio Olympics, the head coach Chen Bin wrote an eight-month training diary for Ding Ning. "The difference is only 100,000 words." He said.

The difficulty of these four years is evident.

Reshaping

In 2017, Ding Ning became the captain of the women's team. Unlike seniors such as Wang Nan and Zhang Yining, she did not choose to retire after the Rio Olympics. The young players of the women's team are still young. In Ding Ning's view, she still has the responsibility of being the captain on her shoulders.

But what no one expected was that the rapids Ding Ning faced were so "massive". Since 2018, Ding Ning's status has fluctuated due to reasons such as ball changes and injuries. Public opinion can be tolerant of young players, but it is difficult to be tolerant of famous players like her.

After seven rounds of fierce competition in the Rio Olympics table tennis women's singles final, Ding Ning finally defeated Li Xiaoxia 4-3 and won the championship.

"When you are in such a position, you have to bear these things." Ding Ning once said in an interview.

She said: "My original things are what brought me to the top, so now I have to change them, shape a new me, or make a big adjustment."

Judging from the results, Ding Ning once again He has not been able to return to his peak state. No one can really resist time, and there is nothing we can do about it.

But Ding Ning dared to enter this process of "reshaping" himself, which is commendable in itself. Looking back on her growth trajectory, she has long been accustomed to climbing up from the bottom in the competition, and she is still willing to go through painful changes after winning honors. This has transcended victory and defeat itself - this is the story of a person who never admits defeat.

The Tianjin National Games table tennis competition was held in the women's singles 1/8 finals. Beijing team Ding Ning played against Liaoning team Wenjia. In the end, Ding Ning won 4 games in a row. The picture shows Ding Ning in the game. Photo by China News Service reporter Li Qing

"In the past 10 years, I have experienced a lot, and from a very young teenager to now I have fulfilled all my dreams." At the end of last year, when Ding Ning was interviewed, he reviewed My career history in the first 10 years. When

experienced setbacks, she also had doubts about herself, but she persisted because of her original intention of table tennis. "I don't want to throw away this thing," Ding Ning said.

Now, Ding Ning wants to start a new life with such an unyielding spirit.

Goodbye, you who started learning to play ball at the age of 5 and ignorant;

Goodbye, you who came to Beijing at the age of 10 to pursue your dream;

Goodbye, you who won the championship in the Olympic Games and completed the "Grand Slam", in the Rio Olympic Games You, who served as the flag bearer of the Chinese delegation at the closing ceremony ...

Hello, "Xue Ning", a freshman at Peking University .

I wish you success in this journey and always smile.