In the summer of 2013 in Wuhan, 14-year-old Wang Chuqin and 13-year-old Sun Yingsha froze for the first time in a group photo at the Daohua Xiangbei - he was loosening his shoelaces, she was wearing a band-aid, but they were quietly leaning towards each other despite being a punch apart. Little did they know at that time that this blurry photo would become the gentlest prologue to a story that would unfold over the years.
In the following ten years, the rubber of Double Happiness's racket was worn and replaced, the lights of the arena were turned on and off, and the two teenagers completed countless transformations on both sides of the table. From the youth competition to the first "beautiful" after becoming a mixed doubles partner; from the hug when winning the World Table Tennis Championships to the silent companionship after losing in the Olympics; from the running-in of "you give me a forehand" in the training hall, to the tactical adjustments that can be understood with one look on the field. Their tacit understanding is hidden in the intensity of their high-fives, in their defense of "duplicity" during interviews, in the half-filled bottles of water they handed over when they were at their lowest point, and in their actions of avoiding wounds when wiping sweat.
This is no fairy tale smooth sailing. There have been bottlenecks in singles, confusion in mixed doubles, doubts from public opinion, and even the restraint of standing side by side on the podium but having to embrace your opponent first. But every time the ball hits the ground, every time they look at the familiar figure on the side of the stage, they can always find their original courage - just like the 13-year-old she raised her head and said, "It's more fun to win in mixed doubles", just like the 14-year-old him silently tightened his shoelaces, mentally replacing "next time we play" with "to go further together".
This is a story about table tennis, about the growth of a teenager to the peak, and about two souls that have already been engraved into the bond of blood and bones through millions of swings. When the lights focus on the table again, their story continues.
Purpose: To make us fans feel really good articles