Profile: Chen Qi/Ma Lin, China's new "golden pair"

This time in Athens, the "golden pair" China had prepared for its rivals was Chen Qi and Ma Lin, two Olympic rookies. In the final match played in the Galatsi Olympic Hall in northwest Athens Saturday afternoon, Chen and Ma, who had taken out three European pairs in the previous matches, again outclassed Ko Lai Chak/Li Ching of Chinese Hong Kong 4-2 to be crowned the Olympic champions.

Chinese Ma Lin (L) and Chen Qi show their gold medals at the reward podium at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 21, 2004. They beat Ko Lai Chak and Li Ching of Chinese Hong Kong to take the gold medal of the men's table tennis doubles.

While the 24-year-old Ma, who had missed a great opportunity to win the singles title after a surprise defeat to Swedish veteran Jan-Ove Waldner, shed tears of joy, his young partner Chen, only 20, looked as calm and composed as if he had just won an ordinary match.

"I think it's not easy for myself to overcome the impact of my singles loss and seize the doubles gold today," said Ma at a press conference for the medals winners shortly after the medal awarding ceremony.

"Without the superb performance of my partner, it would have been impossible for us to win the title, as I had only displayed ordinary form in the matches, which even couldn't satisfy myself," he added.

While the Chinese table tennis team announced its lineup for the Athens Olympics, many were surprised to see that the names of Wang Liqin and Yan Sen, defending doubles champions from the Sydney 2000 Games, had been missing.

They then learnt that it was Chen Qi and Ma Lin who had taken the place of Wang and Yan. Even the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) regretted this decision.

But team sources said that Chen and Ma had earned their tickets to Athens through a fair selection match, in which they beat the Sydney Olympic champions 4-2.

"The left-handed Chen and the right-handed Ma constitute the so- called 'golden combination' for doubles players," a coach in the Chinese men's team said. "Moreover, both the penholding Ma and the handshaking Chen have very strong capabilities in fast attack and rallies."

Born in February 1980 in Shenyang City, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Ma started to play table tennis at an early age of 6 and was inducted into the national team in 1994 when he was only 14.

Ma won the 2000 World Cup to become China's first men's singles world champion after the ITTF introduced the 40mm large balls after the Sydney Olympic Games, a revision quite unfavorable for the Chinese paddlers who could play faster games with smaller balls.

After the ITTF adopted the new 11-point scoring system in 2002, Ma again became the first Chinese to win a men's singles title under the new system, also at the World Cup tournament in 2003.

However, Ma was never able to win the singles title at the world championships, though he had participated in all the four championships from 1997 to 2003. He was also denied a chance to play at the Sydney 2000 Games though he was already a veteran in the Chinese team at that time.

While Ma's story was a bit sad, especially following his tragic loss in singles here in Athens, the story of Chen, born in April 1984 and a native of east China's coastal province Jiangsu, was quite dramatic.

Recruited by the junior national team in 1999, Chen, instead of gaining any instant fame, was dismissed twice in less than two years. The first dismissal resulted from his bad temper, as he broke his racket after losing an easy match. The reason for the second dismissal was that he had sneaked out of the team to play outside for the whole night and then lied to his coach.

If it were not for Liu Guoliang, a "grand slam" winner of all men's singles titles at the world championships, world cup and Olympic Games who started coaching the Chinese men's team in late 2002, Chen might have quit his professional career early. Liu had handpicked this "naughty yet smart" boy and given him a place in the national team.

Chen cherished his "third and last chance" very much and trained much harder than before. In 2003, his efforts were rewarded as he delivered a series of upsets to table tennis big names such as Timo Boll of Germany, Jean-Michel Saive of Belgium and Werner Schlager of Austria in ITTF pro tour series.

More importantly, he and Ma paired up this year and has since seized four doubles titles in pro tour events and also taken the doubles title in the pro tour finals at the end of the year.

Within three months since September 2003, Chen had turned from an obscure player into a shining new star, and his world singles ranking soared at rocket speed, from no ranking at all to the eighth position.

"Chen has created a miracle which was unseen in the recent 10 to 15 years," Chinese head coach Cai Zhenhua once commented.

"I have picked him because of his passion on the court, as well as the fighting spirit and strong nerves he displays at the critical points of the match," Liu Guoliang explained.

"I am particularly satisfied with Chen's performance here," said Liu after Saturday's doubles final. "As a young player, he has stood the test of a big tournament and become more mature."

As they are just in their early 20s, it is almost certain that both Ma and Chen will stay in the national team till at least the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

By that time, Chen might have established himself as an anchor of the Chinese men's team, while Ma will continue his quest for the glory of becoming another singles "grand slam" winner. For them, the experience they have gained here in Athens will turn out to be quite valuable.

Source: Xinhua