They say it is tougher than the Olympics. "It," of course, could be anything—love, multivariable calculus, even folding a fitted sheet. In this case, the versatile (albeit vague) pronoun represents the the China National Games. While lacking delegates from Japan, Germany, South Korea or other perennial challengers to China's table tennis dominance, the yearly domestic championships have one irrefutable edge in the degree of difficulty department: unlike the Olympics, the China National Games have more than two Chinese players in the field. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, in which China won not only every gold medal on offer, but every single singles medal to boot. In 2010, the International Olympic Committee limited each nation to two singles player in women's and men's events, guaranteeing that at least one singles medal would be awarded to another country. Such extraordinary measures only hint at the incomprehensible depth of China's bench. One of many fine players riding the pine is Liu Dingshuo (pictured). The 23-year-old Liu finished 2018 ranked a career-best 41st in the world. Despite showing such obvious promise, Liu has spent his nascent career toiling in the shadows of such giants as Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin. Due to a lack of opportunities for international play, Liu's world ranking has plummeted to #230. This week in Shaanxi, China, all of the above have suited up for battle at the 2021 China National Games. Featuring both singles and teams events, the championships give China's overlooked extras a chance to be seen on screen with the marquee names. Spoiler alert: world #1 Fan Zhendong won everything. In the teams event, he avenged his Olympic loss to Ma Long, besting his rival Tuesday to seal the teams championship. Fan also cemented his supremacy in singles, but it was not the final anyone would have predicted. The bookkeepers favored a Fan-Ma Long or Fan-Xu Xin final. The world #2 Ma, however, withdrew from the singles following his defeat in the teams event. World #3 Xu Xin, to the surprise of all, succumbed to the aforementioned Liu Dingshuo in the quarters, 4-3. Liu proved it was no fluke when he outmaneuvered world #17 Wang Chuqin in the semis with a convincing 4-1 scoreline. This earned him a championship matchup with Fan Zhendong, who brusquely ended Liu's fairy tale with a 4-0 sweep. While it was not quite a Cinderella story for Liu Dingshuo, it was perhaps his "Rocky." Now that he has claimed silver in an event tougher than the Olympics, there can be no doubt he is ready for more golden opportunities. (But, the insatiable public demands to know, can he or can he not fold a fitted sheet?)

More at Butterfly Online