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friends who follow the table tennis world know that people usually call athletes who have won the singles championships in the three major tournaments of the olympics, the world table tennis championships and the world cup "grand slams". currently, 11 people have achieved this achievement, making them the strongest table tennis players of their time. zhang yining and ma long have even achieved the feat of a "double grand slam".

it is precisely because of the existence of the "grand slam" that the term "grand runner-up" has emerged over time. that is, table tennis players who have won singles runner-up in the three major competitions. there are actually quite a few members in this group, a total of 6 people, but 4 of them have also achieved the grand slam. let us take stock of them below!

waldner: i am the first grand slam winner and the first grand runner-up.

swedish star waldner is a legend in table tennis. he is the idol of countless fans and stars. he defeated the main players of the chinese table tennis team many times from the 1980s to the beginning of this century. in 1992, he successfully won the singles championships in the three major tournaments and became the first grand slam in the history of table tennis. however, many people did not notice that waldner is actually a "grand asian champion" player:

in the men's singles finals of the 1983 and 1996 world cups, waldner lost to his teammate apelen and chinese player liu guoliang respectively, and finished second; in the 1987 and 1991 world table tennis championships, he lost to chinese player jiang jialiang and teammate persson respectively in the men's singles finals; in the men's singles final of the 2000 sydney olympics, he lost to kong linghui after a hard fight, thus collecting silver medals in singles in the three major tournaments.

wang nan: she has rich professional experience and has won singles championship and runner-up in the three major tournaments.

wang nan is the only athlete in the history of the chinese women's table tennis team who has participated in three olympic singles events. she also performed very well in other major competitions. she became a grand slam winner in 2000, but she experienced some lows in the middle of her career. she showed her strength again in the second half but unfortunately failed to return to her peak.

like waldner, wang nan was also a grand slam champion: she lost to her senior deng yaping in the women's singles final of the 1997 world table tennis championships, and lost to her teammates li ju and zhang yining in the 2000 and 2004 world cup women's singles finals respectively; she lost to zhang yining in the 2008 olympic women's singles final and retired immediately, missing out on winning the singles championship in the three major tournaments.

wang hao: reached the men's singles finals 12 times in the three major tournaments, but ultimately failed to reach the grand slam.

wang hao is undoubtedly the most regretful of all the current "grand man asia" players. he has reached the singles finals of the three major tournaments 12 times in 10 years, but in the end he only won 4 championships and won as many as 8 runner-ups, namely:

2004 olympics (lost to ryu seung-min), 2005 world cup (lost to boll), 2006 world cup (lost to ma lin), 2008 olympics (lost to ma lin), 2011 world table tennis championships (lost to zhang jike) and world cup (lost to zhang jike), 2012 olympics (lost to zhang jike), 2013 world table tennis championships (lost to zhang jike).

until his retirement, wang hao had won singles gold medals in the eight major competitions in china and abroad, including the world table tennis championships, world cup, asian games, asian championships, asian cup, national games, and national championships, but it was a pity that he only finished second in singles in three olympic games.

li xiaoxia: "love and hate" with teammates, and achieve mutual success.

li xiaoxia is a representative of late bloomers in table tennis. although she became famous very early, she encountered suppression from her peers guo yue and her junior ding ning after her debut. she lost to these two teammates in the women's singles finals of the 2007 and 2011 world table tennis championships respectively. she also lost to ding ning in the women's singles final of the 2011 world cup.

however, starting from her victory over ding ning in the women's singles final of the 2012 london olympics, li xiaoxia entered her peak period, and then achieved a grand slam at the 2013 world table tennis championships (she had won the world cup women's singles championship in 2008). however, she lost to ding ning again in the women's singles final of the 2016 olympics. while witnessing her opponent achieve a grand slam, she also collected the singles runner-up titles in the three major tournaments.

fan zhendong: moving forward step by step, he finally became the "stabilizing force" of the national table tennis team.

fan zhendong is another talented athlete of the national table tennis team. in 2013, when he was only 16 years old, he reached the men's singles final of the national games, and then lost to his teammate ma long. later, he lost to his opponent in the men's singles finals of the 2015 world cup, 2017 world table tennis championships, and 2021 olympics, becoming the grand slam champion.

however, after experiencing setbacks, fan zhendong gradually took on the responsibility of the national table tennis men's team, and achieved outstanding results in the eight major competitions at home and abroad. in the end, when his teammate wang chuqin lost unexpectedly at the 2024 paris olympics, he withstood the pressure and won the gold medal in the men's singles event, thus becoming the last table tennis player to achieve a grand slam so far.

sun yingsha: there is still hope for the future, and i will continue to strive for the grand slam in los angeles.

sun yingsha's situation is somewhat similar to fan zhendong's. she also became famous at a young age, and then lost to her teammates many times. in the women's singles finals of the three major competitions, she has lost to chen meng three times (2020 world cup, 2021 olympics, 2024 olympics) and once to wang manyu (2021 world table tennis championships).

however, as mentioned earlier, four of the five retired grand slam players in table tennis have achieved the grand slam, and only wang hao has regrets. sun yingsha is only 24 years old this year and has won two singles championships in the three major competitions. she still has a chance to hit the grand slam at the 2028 los angeles olympics. let us wait and see!