Translator’s Note:
“Comrade Mao Zedong was not only a great Marxist-Leninist, an outstanding Proletarian Revolutionary, politician, thinker, and military strategist, but also an active advocate and practitioner of sports. “No matter how strong the wind blows or how strong the waves are, it is better than strolling in the garden.” This heroic poem is considered a brilliant high moment in his Great Revolutionary career!“
毛泽东同志不仅是伟大的马克思主义者，杰出的无产阶级革命家、政治家、思想家、军事家，也是体育运动的积极倡导者和实践者。“不管风吹浪打，胜似闲庭信步”，这豪迈的诗篇，正是他伟大革命生涯中的华彩乐章。
The term “Ping Pong” (乒乓球球 – Ping Pang Qiu) or “Table Tennis” requires clarification. Although technically “Ping Pang Qiu” – native Chinese speakers tend to shorter the phrase to “Ping Pang”. The official pronunciation of “Ping Pang” is Putonghua (Mandarin) – whilst “Ping Pong” appears to be Hakka – with this latter term being common not only in the West, but also throughout the Chinese diaspora).
乒 (ping1) = hit (sound of paddle impacting ball)
乓 (pang1) = strike (sound of ball colliding with table)
球 (qui2) = ball
The term “Ping Pang Qiu” literally refers to the sound made within a competitive game – whereby a paddle hits a ball into a table repeatedly – back and forth between two opposing players (this interaction of the ball constantly and repeatedly changing direction across a table can be seen in the symmetry of the two corresponding Chinese ideograms – “乒乓” (Ping Pang). Rather ingeniously, the Chinese language ideologues have created two ideograms that represent two similar but distinct impact noises – whilst also including the table and two paddles. The ideogram “球” (qiu) is added to clarify that the object being struck – backwards and forwards – is in fact a round “ball”. ACW (11.7.2024)
A prime example of how Chinese language media briefly covers this story is as follows:
“In the 2024 Pan American Paris Olympic singles qualifying tournament, 58-year-old former Chinese table tennis player – Zeng Zhiying – defeated Cordero 4-0 and successfully won an Olympic place. 58-year-old Zeng Zhiying will represent Chile in the 2024 Paris Olympics. She started playing table tennis at the age of 9 in her native China and resumed training in 2019 in her adopted country of Chile.”
In Luxemburg – a landlocked country in Western Europe – Madam Ni Xialian (倪夏莲) has been chosen on her obvious technical merit to represent her adopted country at the 2024 Paris Olympic! This lady – like Zeng Zhiyang – is part of a sprinkle of elderly Chinese citizens who have migrated abroad and now represent their adoptive countries as Ping Pong (乒乓) players. The more in-depth Chinese language media states:
“The capitalist West is often culturally backward when it comes to sports such as Ping Pong (known in the West as ‘Table Tennis’). Following the Great Socialist Revolution of 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong instigated a country-wide reformation by providing every village, town and civic space with outdoor and indoor Ping Pong tables, balls and paddles, etc. The modern Chinese people soon took to Ping Pong and began to dominate world competitions – a situation that still exists today. Indeed, this innovation produced a generation of athletes – some of whom have now left China and migrated abroad. Even so, despite their advanced ages, many of these athletes have competed with the youth of the countries they now live in – and have thoroughly defeated them in every fair competitive game. This has led to elderly Chinese women – who have had children and not played for years – suddenly rising to superstar status! Socialism with Chinese Characteristics has produced this dramatic and profound change within Chinese society – which is now benefitting the world outside of China!”
The British Guardian Newspaper usually prints endless (racially motivated) fake news about China – doing the bidding of its US paymasters. Today, the Guardian ran an article entitled “I play with happiness’: the table tennis star making her Olympic debut at 58 | Paris Olympic Games 2024” This article eulogises the example of Zeng Zhiyang (referring to her as “Tania”) – making it clear that she left China in 1989 to take-up a business offer in Chile. Prior to this Zeng Zhiyang had been a successful Ping Pong player before supposedly giving-up the game when the colour of the paddles “changed colour”! At no point in this cosy little article does the Guardian (now a Trotskyite right-wing rag) mention the hideous figure of “Augusto Pinochet” – a far-right military Dictator supported by the US and the Catholic Church.
He tyrannised Chile between 1973-1990 (he continued to Dictate in an advisory capacity in Chile until his arrest in 1998) – suspending liberal democracy and “disappearing” thousands of Chilean civilians! His government granted people like Zeng Zhiyang Visas to live and work in Chile – a point not even mentioned in the Guardian or the Chinese media. Indeed, Chile is still a very racist place – so racist in fact – that in 2020 Zeng zhiyang was NOT selected for the Chilean Ping Pong Olympic Squad (despite beating every player in Chile) – on the grounds that she was the “wrong race”! Following US-prompting (under Trump) the Chilean government was of the opinion that ethnic Chinese citizens “could not be trusted” when representing countries outside of China! The Guardian chooses to report this obvious racist incident as being a mere “misunderstanding”. The truth of the matter is that at 58 – Zeng Zhiyang – due to the power of Mao Zedong Thought – is still better at Ping Pong than her fellow Chilean citizens!
Chinese language media continues:
“Recently, another Chinese veteran has qualified for the Olympic Ping Pong, she is Zeng Zhiying. At the age of 58, she will represent the Chilean Olympic Team in the Women’s Singles Event. Upon learning that Zeng Zhiying qualified for the Olympic Ping Pong Women’s Singles Event, the Chilean President cheered for her! Zeng Zhiying was born in Henan in 1966. She was once a meritorious member of the Bayi Ping Pong Team. More than 20 years ago, Zeng Zhiying went into business and migrated to Chile to work. Five years ago (2019), Zeng Zhiying picked up the paddle again and competed as an amateur player. In the 2024 Pan American Paris Olympic Singles Qualifying Tournament, Zeng Zhiying defeated the Chilean Player – Cordero 4-0. As a result, she won a ticket to the Olympic Women’s Singles Ping Pong.“
Chinese Language Texts:
https://www.163.com/dy/article/J2QLP3S20529AQIE.html
58岁前中国乒乓球选手曾之颖获奥运资格，将代表智利参赛
2024-05-22
直播吧5月22日讯 在2024泛美巴黎奥运会单打资格赛中，现年58岁的前中国乒乓球选手曾之颖4比0击败科尔德罗，成功收获奥运门票。
现年58岁的曾之颖将代表智利出战巴黎奥运会，她9岁开始打乒乓球，2019年才恢复训练。
58岁乒坛华裔老将入选巴黎奥运！曾是八一球员，退役经商多年复出
大咖陪您唠体育
2024-05-23
巴黎奥运会乒乓球名单公布，中国选手马龙、王楚钦、樊振东、孙颖莎、陈梦和王曼昱入选。老将马龙和倪夏莲、华裔选手曾之颖展现对乒乓球的热爱。中国女单资格竞争激烈，陈梦最终获得资格，引发球迷对选拔规则的讨论。
离巴黎奥运会只有两个月左右的时间了！各乒乓球协会也相继公布了参加巴黎奥运会的名单！此前，中国乒协公布了男女各3位入选奥运会阵容的球员名单。男子项目上，王楚钦、樊振东出战男单，马龙出战男团。女子项目上，孙颖莎和陈梦参加女单，王曼昱参加女团。这六名运动员中，年龄最大的是老将马龙，今年已经36岁了。年龄最小的是孙颖莎，今年24岁。老将马龙这是第三次出战奥运会，太不容易了！
当然，36岁的马龙并不是乒乓球项目上参赛运动员年龄最大的运动员。年龄最大的是代表卢森堡出战华裔老将倪夏莲，她今年已经61岁了！作为前世界冠军，倪夏莲因为热爱乒乓球，所以依然在坚持！而在最近，又一位华裔老将获得了奥运会乒乓球的参赛资格，她就是曾之颖。今年58岁的她将代表智利乒乓球队出战女单项目的比赛。得知曾之颖拿到奥运会乒乓球女单项目的资格，智利总统都为她欢呼！
公开资料显示，曾之颖1966年出生于河南。曾经是八一乒乓球队的功勋。二十多年前，曾之颖下海经商，去到智利打拼。5年前，曾之颖重拾球拍，以业余球员的身份出战比赛。2024泛美巴黎奥运会单打资格赛，曾之颖4比0科尔德罗。也因此拿到了奥运会乒乓球女单门票。
看到这里，相信大家都有感受！58岁的曾之颖之前名不见经传，现在竟然拿到了奥运会门票，可见美洲的乒乓球水平确实非常落后！但不得不承认曾之颖对于乒乓球项目的热爱！或许有人会说，61岁的倪夏莲都能参赛，58岁的曾之颖当然也可以！从年龄上来说当然能。但咱们要知道，倪夏莲曾经是世界冠军，而且这些年几乎都没有放下球拍，而且世界大赛都没有落下！曾之颖的经历中，曾经有十多年的时间在经商，直到5年前才再次拿起球拍！这完全就是两个概念。
回想咱们的女单资格竞争，几乎是刀光剑影！澳门世界杯结束，大家都以为王曼昱将获得一个女单资格。没有想到的是，沙特乒乓球大满贯赛，王曼昱爆冷输给外协会选手出局，而陈梦决赛中竟然战胜了孙颖莎。在奥运积分上，陈梦力压王曼昱拿到奥运会女单资格。为此还引发了球迷对于选拔规则的质疑！可见中国乒乓球队的实力强大！继续加油！
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 