Hao Shuai is 34 years old and is the oldest table tennis player in this National Games. Facing the last battle of his career, he tried his best to achieve a successful conclusion.
In order to draw this end, he had to start from the qualifying round. Through hard work, he qualified for the men's singles, men's doubles, men's team and mixed doubles events. The table tennis schedule is intensive and sometimes requires multiple games in one day. Hao Shuai played 13 games in one day, 4 games in just 3 days, and the total time spent in a single day was 4 hours and 10 minutes.
In the first round of singles, Hao Shuai defeated Hubei's Xue Fei in six games, taking 64 minutes, which was the longest men's singles match of the day; in the second round against Shandong's Fang Bo, Hao Shuai once again defeated Xue Fei in six games. The victory in the game lasted 94 minutes, making it the longest men's singles match at present. In the quarter-finals against Shanghai's Xu Xin, Hao Shuai lost in seven games, taking 82 minutes and making it the second longest match at the moment. In addition, in the mixed doubles semi-finals, the Jinyun combination of Hao Shuai/Wang Yidi defeated the Junchuan combination of Fan Zhendong/Zhu Yuling in seven games in 81 minutes, setting a record for mixed doubles. Before the mixed doubles final on the evening of the 3rd, Hao Shuai had just played Fang Bo and was exhausted. Asked how he made the choice at that time and whether he had considered conserving his strength for the championship he had the only chance to win, Hao Shuai's answer was: "I have lost against Fang Bo before. I really want to beat him once." Hao Shuai finally won. He defeated Fang Bo, but lost the mixed doubles final. He wanted to make that come full circle.
Hao Shuai, who was once known as the "Six Little Tigers of National Table Tennis" together with famous national table tennis players Wang Hao and Chen Qi, was the last one to leave the national team. In 2014, Wang Hao and Chen Qi retired one after another, opening a new chapter in the role of coach, while Hao Shuai chose to stick with it to this day. Hao Shuai's career is more like a marathon, a long and peaceful process, just like his games often last longer than others.
Hao Shuai became famous at a young age. He once defeated top players such as Wang Liqin and Boll, and had high hopes from many people. However, a game in the 2005 World Table Tennis Championships almost ruined his career. . When facing the Danish player Metz, Hao Shuai was leading 3:0 and had a 10:7 advantage in the fourth game. He had no way to deal with his opponent's high ball tactics, and was eventually eliminated by Metz in four consecutive games. .
This game became a turning point in Hao Shuai's career. Since then, he has not been able to compete with the main players of the national table tennis team. During the same period, Wang Hao participated in three consecutive Olympic Games. Hao Shuai could only sit at home and cheer for his teammates.
Hao Shuai started playing basketball at the age of 6 and has been playing for 28 years. There are not many flashlights of major competitions focusing on him, so he runs silently. The National Games at his doorstep may be his best ending and memory.