Tracing back to Liu and Guo Yue, the two ping talents, it is not difficult to find their breakthrough timing in the World Series is unique. 2007, at the age of 19, Guo Yue defeated Zhang Yining in the World Series women's singles semifinals, and then in the finals of the force of the same age of Li, won the World Series women's singles gold medal!
By comparison, Liu only won her first women's singles gold medal at the World Series in 2019, the year she turned 28!
Comparing these two World Series, it is clear that Guo Yue's performance was much better.
However, on the World Cup stage, Guo Yue's performance was far from Liu.
Guo Yue has participated in five Women's Singles World Cups but has never been associated with the title, while Liu has only participated in six Women's Singles World Cups but has won five gold medals!
So why has Guo Yue repeatedly failed in five World Cups? I'm afraid the answer to that has to be found in the differences in the opponents they've faced.
Guo Yue made her World Cup debut in 2015. She was 17 years old at the time and played alongside Zhang Yining and Guo Yan. However, Guo Yue defeated Zhang Yining in the quarterfinals and did not reach the quarterfinals.
On that occasion, Guo Yue's opponents included Grand Slam champion Zhang Yining and World Series runner-up Guo Yan.
And Liu's first World Cup appearance was in 2009. The opponents faced were and Lee. Eventually, Liu beat Lee in the final to win the title.
In 2007, Guo Yue participated in the World Cup for the second time. This time, she competed with Wang Nan and Zhang Yining. As a result, Guo Yue lost to Zhang Yining again in the semifinals.
This time, Guo Yue's opponents are also Wang Nan and Zhang Yining.
In 2012, Liu competed in the World Cup for the second time. Originally, she and Liu were to compete together, but withdrew due to injury. Eventually, Liu fought alone and defeated Samara in the final to win her second World Cup singles title!
Liu's opponents this time were mainly out-of-conference players and did not go head-to-head with his teammates.
In 2008, Guo Yue participated in her third World Cup. This time, she played with Li and lost to Singapore's Feng Tianwei in the quarterfinals.
It is important to know that Feng Tianwei's five matches against Zhang Yining at the Beijing Olympics were all tied at more than 10 points each! It is evident that Feng Tianwei was as powerful as a rainbow at that time!
Liu and Lee's third World Cup was in 2013. That year, Liu took Lee to compete. Liu had a stellar World Cup, sweeping Wu Yang 4-0 in the final. This time, Liu's opponent was Wu Yang.
In 2009, Guo Yue participated in the World Cup for the fourth time. This time, she competed with Li and Liu, and ended up losing to Liu in the final, without a title.
Liu's fourth World Cup came in 2015, when a teenage Zhu Yuling joined Team Liu.
This time, Liu beat Japan in the final to win her fourth Women's Singles World Cup title!
In 2010, Guo Yue participated in the World Cup for the fifth time. This time, Guo Yan and Guo Yue competed together. As a result, Guo Yue was swept by Hong Kong China's Jiang Huajun 0-4 in the semifinals, and the title was taken away by Guo Yan.
Liu's fifth World Cup was in 2017. This time, Zhu Yuling competed against Liu. As a result, Liu fought hard for seven games and lost to Zhu Yuling in the final.
Liu's sixth World Cup took place in 2019. At that time, Liu had already won the women's singles title at the World Cup, while Zhu Yuling was still competing with Liu. At this time, Zhu Yuling had hit a career low. In the end, Liu beat Zhu Yuling in the final and won the World Cup for the fifth time!
In contrast to Liu, Guo Yue has competed in five World Cup tournaments but has never been able to win. This was mainly because her competitors were top players such as Zhang Yining and Wang Nan. When Zhang Nan retired, she faced overseas ping pong champions such as Feng Tianwei and Jiang Huajun.
In Liu's six World Cups, except for the first one, the opponents were Li and. In the rest of the tournaments, the participants were not too strong, and there was no direct competition with Li Dingning, the top two main players of the Chinese women's game at that time. As a result, Liu was able to realize five titles!
So, here's the question. As two talented girls in the Chinese women's ping pong, Guo Yue won the World Series women's singles title at the age of 19, but failed to win a single World Cup. Liu won the World Series women's singles title at the age of 28, but became a five-time World Cup champion!
Who do you think has the better record between these two contestants? Who is the real girl genius?
