Liu Shiwen of China in women's singles competition at the ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open in Magdeburg, February 1, 2020. /VCG
China's ace table tennis player Liu Shiwen on Sunday announced her withdrawal from the Qatar Open. Unlike many other players who quit because of the new coronavirus, Liu cited a long-standing injury.
This is the seventh event she has missed because of injury since last July. Though Liu claimed women's singles titles at both the World Table Tennis Championships and the Table Tennis World Cup in 2019, she has been bothered by different injuries – waist, ankle, elbow – the whole time.
Mima Ito of Japan serves in women's singles competition at the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Zhengzhou of central China's Henan Province, December 14, 2019. /VCG
The injuries are holding her back. In the past five events in which she has participated, Liu's best performance was to reach the quarterfinals. By contrast, China's biggest threat at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Mima Ito of Japan, has reached the final four times in her past five contests, not to mention that she also won two titles.
As a consequence, Ito has left Liu far behind on the ITTF world ranking table. If Liu is selected to attend the women's singles competitions in Tokyo but cannot surpass Ito before the Olympics, she may be in the same division with another Chinese player, making it more difficult for China to win women's singles gold.
When she is healthy, Liu is definitely one of China's best choices for the women's singles and she herself has been craving the chance to play at the Olympics. However, as the team's boss, Liu Guoliang must see the big picture and sometimes has to make some hard calls.
From L to R: Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Chen Meng and Ding Ning of China /VCG
Judging by Chinese players' records against Ito, Ding Ning, Wang Manyu, Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng "theoretically" hold an advantage over the 19-year-old Japanese.
Ding is much older than the other three and she herself admitted that her days in the national team are getting shorter.
Wang's problem is that she is still too young and has not yet proved herself good enough for the big stage like the Olympics.
Sun has a very aggressive style but she will struggle when the opponent studies her well and comes prepared.
Chen has kept a decent record against multiple major opponents of China but she is a slow starter and not very good at improvising.
Intimidating as Ito is, she should not be the only factor Liu Guoliang considers before selecting the Olympic participants. After all, the Olympics is not a one-match duel.