This time he came prepared, Tomokazu Zhang will challenge Japanese table tennis and win the men's singles medal at the World Table Tennis Championships after 46 years

The 2027 World Table Tennis Championships will open in Doha on the 17th. The Japanese table tennis team, which is based on the squad for the Paris Olympics, aims to reach the podium in all five events for the first time in 58 years since the 1967 World Table Tennis Championships in Stockholm. On the men's side, 21-year-old ace player Tomokazu Zhang will challenge to win the men's singles medal at the World Table Tennis Championships for the first time in 46 years.

Tomokazu Zhangmoto

This is the fifth individual World Table Tennis Championships that Zhang Benzhi and individuals have participated in since the 2017 Dusseldorf Championships, when he reached the men's singles quarterfinals at the youngest age of 13 in history. The 21-year-old ace said: "Since the beginning of this year, I have put in all the efforts to prepare for the World Table Tennis Championships. I'm going to do my best and leave nothing behind after the race. ”

After the 1979 World Table Tennis Championships in Pyongyang men's singles gold medalist Seiji Ono, the Japanese men's singles never made it to the podium of the World Table Tennis Championships. In this World Table Tennis Championships, Tomokazu Zhang entered the fourth seed with the world ranking 4th, and he could not meet strong Chinese players until the semifinals. Although expectations for the feat 46 years later were high, Tomokazu Harimoto announced that "no goals will be set this time." Based on the painful experience of not reaching his goal at the last three World Table Tennis Championships in which the top four seeded players participated and at last summer's Paris Olympics, he quietly ignited his fighting spirit: "Every time I say I want to win a medal, I deeply feel that there is no point in saying anything. It is enough to understand in your own heart. ”

Facing this World Table Tennis Championships, Tomokazu Zhang strengthened his good backhand with an offensive awareness in terms of technique. On the physical side, he said: "If the footwork is lighter, the ball that you attack will increase. "Since February, he has lost about 5 kilograms in running and multi-ball exercises." I've been honing my aggressive table tennis until now. I want to start from the first 0-0 goal and take the initiative." According to the Japanese media, it seems that Tomokazu Zhangmoto's thoughts about the long-cherished medal are not daring to express in words, and all of them want to use the competition to perform.