by sportswriters Li Chunyu, Yue Ranran and Liu Bo
HAIKOU, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- At the ongoing Asian Cup in Hainan's capital city Haikou, native paddler Lin Shidong probably received the loudest cheers from home fans throughout his career.
The 20-year-old Thursday claimed his second straight win in the men's singles group match to secure a berth in the last 16 at the Asian Cup.
After the match, Wang Lei, a table tennis fan, introduced the players of Team China to her son Hao Tongbo in front of a board filled with the players' names and photos in the venue.
"It's a great opportunity to experience the table tennis culture in such a high-level event. We came to watch the competitions on Wednesday and Thursday, paying much attention to our home player Lin. His success can encourage more children."
"I grew up in Hainan. I watched table tennis matches of the 2024 Paris Olympics and then tried to play table tennis with my parents. It's interesting," said the 10-year-old Hao.
Showing talent in table tennis since childhood, Lin has grown into a big name in the sport and become a role model for local youth to chase their own dreams in table tennis.
Haikou resident Zhang Hongwei, 37, also took his kids to support players of Team China at the Asian Cup.
"Lin's persistence and hardworking shows the nature of our Hainan people. My kids cheered for Lin all the time. I hope they can learn to deal with the pressure when trailing behind or confronting difficulties," he said.
Zhang believes that more parents in Hainan now are taking sports as an option for their children's long-term development.
"As an outstanding player in China's national team, Lin definitely sets an example for younger generations," said men's singles world No.1 Wang Chuqin. "In table tennis and many other sports, there must be young talents all over the country. I hope the youth can forge ahead with determination."
Lin added: "I hope the children who love playing table tennis can be recruited by the national team in the future."
Born in Danzhou of Hainan, Lin played for the first time in his home province on the international stage.
"To compete in my hometown means a lot. I am so familiar with the natural environment," Lin said with pride. "We have such a large venue in Haikou with impressive atmosphere. I am delighted to see table tennis getting popular here. Hainan is showing its sports vitality."
The tournament running from Wednesday to Sunday features men's singles and women's singles events. With strong support on home soil, Lin beat India's Snehit Suravajjula 11-1, 11-9, 11-4 on Wednesday and defeated Chinese Taipei teenage player Kuo Guan-Hong 11-5, 11-5, 13-11 one day later.
The group stage adopts a round-robin format with 32 players divided into eight groups in each event, and the top two players in each group will advance to the knockout stage. As Lin's next opponent Abdulaziz Bu Shulaybi of Saudi Arabia lost his first two group matches, Lin has already booked a slot in the last 16.
Although with straight-games wins so far, Lin admitted that he should be more patient as he is trying to put on his best performance at home.
"I need to adjust myself timely and accordingly during the match, such as the changes of landing and spinning," he said. "I told myself to be focused on each game against all players regardless of the age. I want to show my best at home."
As the current men's singles World No.2, Lin edged China's most decorated Olympian Ma Long to win the men's singles title at the 2024 World Table Tennis (WTT) China Smash in Beijing.
At China's 15th National Games last year, Lin finished runner-up after losing to Fan Zhendong, but Lin already made history by becoming the first Hainan paddler to reach the final at the National Games. ■
