by Henry Chen 

Undoubtedly, 2016 was the most successful year in Ma Long’s career. He fully realised his athletic aspirations, notably winning the Men’s Singles gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Later, he emerged victorious at the Seamaster Qatar 2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals beating Fan Zhendong in the Men’s Singles final. After the victory, Ma Long’s confidence strengthened. It was demonstrated in the 2016 Chinese Super League.

“Ma Long is currently in a good shape, especially after he won the championship title in the Qatar ITTF Grand Finals. The quality of his performance in that match was very high”, Yin Xiao, Shandong Weiqiao’s coach

Ma Long’s performance in this season’s Chinese Super League is indeed outstanding. In 18 rounds of competition in the preliminary stage, Ma Long only posted three defeats. He was victorious in twenty-one matches; those victories of course helped Shandong Weiqiao progress into the Play-Offs.

On Saturday 24th December, Shandong Weiqiao completed the first stage of the league’s proceedings with a hard-earned victory against the other strong contender, Bayi. The Weiqiao Team tops the table with just one loss and 17 wins.

“Ma Long was very quick to possess a high level of athleticism in this year’s Super League. He adapted after five to six matches. Currently, there are no problems as to injuries or health”, Yin Xiao

Now, this coming weekend, the team will face the Bazhou Team in the first round of the play-offs. According to the team’s coach, Ma Long is in a good condition and is ready to lead the team through the 2016 title bid.

“I believe that Ma Long will play an even greater role for the team in the second stage of the competition”, Yin Xiao

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Wednesday 28th December: Final Super League Team Positions

Wednesday 28th December: Final Super League Averages