One does not become a Grand Slam winner by accident. The distinction in table tennis refers to winning singles titles at the Olympics, World Championships and World Cup. Only ten players have accomplished the feat, five women and five men. China's Liu Guoliang became the second man to secure the trifecta upon winning the World Championships in 1999. In contrast to the traditional one-sided penhold block-and-smash style favored by Chinese legends like Zhuang Zedong and Jiang Jialing, Liu's style was as innovative as it was deadly. He was among first to use reverse penhold backand, now the norm among top penholders like Xu Xin and Wong Chun Ting. After winning everything there was to win in table tennis, Liu retired from playing at 25. He did not, however, retire from competition, but instead has led China's table tennis team through the most efficient era in its six decades of dominance. In fact, China has been so hegemonic under Liu that it is much easier to list the titles which have eluded them than their accomplishments. In the last two decades, Austria's Werner Schlager won the men's singles World Championship in 2003, and Singapore won the women's team World Championship in 2010. Every other singles and teams title at the Olympics and World Championships has gone to China. First as coach and, since 2018, president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA), Liu has never been content to rest on his laurels. Seeing the rise of rival teams in Japan, Germany, South Korea and other potential threats to China's monopoly of gold, Liu has invested heavily in the development of youth talent. While China has always been successful at recruiting and training promising youngsters, Liu felt that more support was needed for the pre-teen scene. With his experience growing up in the crucible of Chinese table tennis, Liu knew all too well that champions must be molded from an early age. According to Yoshihito Miyazaki, the Japan Table Tennis Association's head of development, "Chinese table tennis rarely paid attention to the development of under-12 players, but Liu noted the importance of that after he took office." Miyazaki, inspired by Liu's efforts in China, has helped Japan develop world-class teen talent like Mima Ito and Tomokazu Harimoto, both ranked among the world's top five players. With the Tokyo 2020 Olympics delayed until next summer, anticipation for the long-awaited clash of the titans is at a fever pitch. CTTA president Liu Guoliang, ever the optimist, sees benefits of Olympic postponement for both older and younger players. "Veterans like Ma [Long] and Ding [Ning] need to work on communication and mental adjustment," says Liu of his reigning Olympic champions. "A positive mentality may benefit them in recovering from injuries and maintaining good form. For young athletes, they have seen bigger hope and potential, and a lot of changes can take place over the next year." For a proven winner like Liu, every challenge can be a win-win situation. "A one-year postponement of the Tokyo Olympics means that we are one year closer to the Paris Olympics in 2024, says Liu. "Think of it in a positive way, you can take it as a chance of competing at two Olympic Games in three years." Table tennis, like the world it inhabits, is always changing. Nevertheless, you can always count on Liu Guoliang to be studying the dynamic landscape, planning and preparing for his next innovative move. It's no accident.

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