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Lin Shidong

●2024 Paris Olympics

●Table tennis

●Extra-special training players

Recent photo of Lin Shidong.

The 2024 Paris Olympics opened on July 26. Lin Shidong, a 19-year-old young player of the Hainan Provincial Table Tennis Team, joined the Olympic team as a non-staff sparring player. He is also the youngest member of the national table tennis team in the Paris Olympics.

Li Meng, head coach of the Hainan Provincial Table Tennis Team, said that Lin Shidong joining the national table tennis team for the Paris Olympics is an honor for Hainan and also a good opportunity for Shidong to learn up close.

Nanhai.com reporter Chen Wang and intern Li Shuhui

Started formal training at the age of 7

He started winning international championships at the age of 18.

Lin Shidong is from Danzhou and grew up in Sanya. At the end of 2011, when Lin Shidong was 7 years old, his father gave him to Guan Yan, then head coach of Sanya Nanyan Table Tennis Club, for training. Here, Lin Shidong began his own journey of table tennis enlightenment.

"At first, Shidong had to go home during holidays and rest on weekends, so he couldn't keep up with the training pace. Later, I gradually increased the intensity of his training," Guan Yan introduced.

"He has a good feeling for table tennis and a good understanding of it." Guan Yan said that as the practice continued, Lin Shidong's table tennis talent gradually emerged. In order to give Lin Shidong better training, she sent him to the Hebei Zhengding National Table Tennis Training Base, known as the "Cradle of World Champions", two years later, where he trained under Li Meng for half a year.

On April 1, 2015, the Hainan Provincial Table Tennis Team was established, and Li Meng was invited to Hainan as the head coach. Li Meng brought 7 athletes to Hainan at that time, and Lin Shidong was the youngest of the 7 players. Li Meng also designed some tactical skills specifically for Lin Shidong's playing style.

Under strict training, Lin Shidong began to emerge. In 2016, when he participated in the National Championships, he was 11 years old, making him the youngest player to participate in the event so far. In 2018, he won the men's singles championship of the National Table Tennis Championships (U13 Group) and the National Youth Table Tennis Competition (South Division), becoming the first person from Hainan to win the championship of the event.

"After winning the national championship for the first time, Lin Shidong played a little impetuously and his mentality was a little floating." Li Meng said that in order to let the child grow up better and healthier, he decided to send Shidong back to Sanya Nanyan Table Tennis Club to let him calm down for a while. After adjustments, Lin Shidong quickly regained his form and returned to the provincial table tennis team.

2018 was a fruitful year for Lin Shidong. In September, at the ITTF Junior Tour Croatia, Lin Shidong represented the national team in international competitions and won the U15 men's team championship, the U15 men's singles runner-up, and the U15 men's doubles third place. In November, at the ITTF Hungarian Junior Open (Senior Station), Lin Shidong won 1 gold and 1 bronze.

In 2020, Lin Shidong joined the national training team. In December of the same year, he won the men's singles championship of the National Youth Table Tennis Championships and was selected for the second national table tennis team. In 2022, Lin Shidong officially joined the national first team and won numerous awards in various important competitions at home and abroad.

As an extra-special training player

First time on an Olympic team

In 2024, during the closed training of the national table tennis team in Chengdu, Lin Shidong performed very well and showed a strong spirit of cooperation. Liu Guoliang, the head coach of the national table tennis team, specially selected Lin Shidong and asked him to join the Paris Olympic team as an extra-staff sparring player.

Li Meng believes that it is an honor for Hainan and a privilege for Lin Shidong that Lin Shidong has joined the Olympic team as a non-staff sparring player. It is a rare opportunity for him. Although he cannot participate in the competition, he can watch this table tennis feast up close, which will be helpful for his future growth.

(Nanhai.com)