The drums of the Table Tennis Super League are beating again, and the return of Chen Meng has revitalized the Shenzhen University club, but it has also raised many questions among fans about the rules of the league. Last year, Chen Meng had to leave SZU due to rules and regulations, and his return seems to be unconvincing to the fans.
Wang Manyu's World Table Tennis Championships women's singles title made it seem logical for Shandong Luneng FC to let Chen Meng go. However, why did Chen Meng return to Shenzhen University when Sun Yingsha had not also won the World Cup final? Could she be on par with Wang Manyu, but only as a supporting player for the younger players?
Sun Yingsha's strength should not be underestimated and is on par with Manuel Wong. Why did Chen Meng join the club of two young players? Couldn't she choose another club? As the main player of Guoping, couldn't Chen Meng independently lead the team in the Super League?
The thought-provoking aspect of this phenomenon is not that other clubs are short of funds. Instead, they are eager to bring in cost-effective players. Fans naively assumed that Shandong Luneng would acquire Sun Yingsha, but the club is clearly not.
Wang Manyu and Sun Yingsha can play a central role no matter which club they play for, but Chen Meng is different. She is one of those players who are the icing on the cake, as evidenced in the National Championships. If Chen Meng had beaten Han Feier in the team competition at the National Championships, her provincial team would not have been eliminated. However, the scores of the two sides were very close and Chen Meng struggled to play to her strength at critical moments.
Chen Meng joined the Shenzhen University club for the proven system here. Sun Yingsha worked with Chen Meng for many years and helped her win singles titles. Chen Meng was lucky that she met Sun Yingsha later in her career. Was this a coincidence? Apparently not. Chen Meng's condition for winning the title was that Sun Yingsha had to advance to the singles final.
Chen Meng and Sun Yingsha worked together at the club in 2015. Now, Sun Yingsha has grown into a young talent and Chen Meng is entering the late stages of her career. Although both have aspirations to win the title, the competition in this year's Table Tennis Super League is extremely fierce. While Chen Meng's fans hope she and Sun Yingsha will recapture their glory, Wang Yidi's absence makes the road to the title even tougher.
Why have Sun Youngsa and Manuel Wong not performed as well as expected over the past two seasons? Many fans are puzzled by this. Some think Chen Meng should not participate in the league this season, she is nearly 30 years old. Unless she leads the team to participate in the league alone, she cannot participate in the singles competition. Veteran Chen Meng was wronged.
Chen Meng is the player with the highest foreign victory rate and should focus on international matches. She will not be able to prove herself if she does not compete in domestic tournaments. Fans love Chen Meng and believe that she should not be stubborn and should focus on her health.
However, Chen Meng still insisted on participating in this year's league. Although there were no international points in the league, she believed that she should still maintain her presence. Otherwise, fans would gradually forget about her. Although Chen Meng still wanted to win the championship, she was different this year from two years ago.
Chen Meng and Sun Yingsha's friendship still exists and their tacit understanding remains. However, as time passes and Sun Yingsha has grown up, Chen Meng has difficulty in maintaining better focus during matches. Fans are concerned that Chen Meng is prone to mistakes against unfamiliar young players.
Chen Meng has been busy going home for activities recently and has not been training systematically. Achieving good results in the league was very difficult for her. However, Chen Meng's participation in the league is a power of example. This year's Table Tennis Super League is about to start, but after such a long time, I don't see a few strong foreign players joining in.
The best foreign players participated in the professional leagues of other countries, and the fans could only see the competition between the players of their own countries. It is said that South Korean player Tian Zhixi wants to join, but there is a gap between her level and that of Ito Misei. How to improve the attractiveness of the league is also a very important issue. Feel free to leave a comment to discuss. Follow Erlangshen's matches to bring you the purest table tennis thinking.
