For the last five days, the city of Xinxiang, China has been the center of the table tennis-loving nation's attention. Hosting the Chinese table tennis Olympic simulation, today Xinxiang was the epicenter of a seismic shift in the sport. The women's singles proceeded according to plan, with world #1 Chen Meng knocking off second-seeded Sun Yingsha, 4-2 in the final. With the match tied, two games apiece and 7-all in the fifth, it could have gone either way. It was Cheng, however, who took control at the pivotal juncture. "At 7-7, I stayed firm to win this set and became relieved in the sixth set," said the indomitable Chen. While it is easy to take such routine excellence for granted, the results in the men's draw illustrate the difficulty of maintaining such an incomprehensibly high level of play. The first real shocker came in the group stage, when 16-year-old Chinese national junior champion Lin Shidong upset world #2 Xu Xin. Lin reached the quarterfinals before his magical run was ended by Fan Zhendong (pictured, left). While it might have seemed that midnight was fast approaching for the Cinderellas of the ball, there was still the matter of Zhou Qihao (pictured, center) to address. In the semifinals, the unheralded world #122 Zhou Qihao upset world #3 Ma Long (pictured, right), arguably the greatest player of all time. While this was certainly a shocking result, even fewer could have predicted what happened next. In the final, Zhou faced world #1 Fan Zhendong, the most dominant player of recent years by a wide margin. While Fan's participation in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics is assured, everyone else was feeling the pressure to impress the Chinese national team coaches. While the 24-year-old Zhou Qihao is still a long shot to carry the Chinese flag in Tokyo, he certainly made the most of his opportunity to impress the powers that be. Like the women's finals, the tilt between Fan and Zhou was tied after four games. This time, however, it was the underdog who claimed the last two games, 11-8 and 11-9, to send shock waves through China and around the table tennis world. "I had not expected it," said Zhou. "From group phase to quarterfinals, semifinals and the final, I competed against many outstanding players, so I just went all out in every game. I played 120% of my level in this competition." Even if he did play all out and catch the more conservative superstars unaware, the magnitude of Zhou Qihao's performance cannot be overlooked or overstated. Regardless of China's strategic lineup juggling at this summer's Olympics, Zhou Qihao has certainly earned respect, recognition and the right to play on the world's biggest stages.

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