"We used to play pretend, give each other different names," sang Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots. "We would build a rocket ship and then we'd fly it far away." In this song titled "Stressed Out," Joseph contrasts the carefree freedom of youth with the harsh realities of grown-up responsibility. His reminiscences of flights of fancy with his brother are particularly poignant, reminding listeners that we were all young once and could conjure magic with nothing more than our imagination. Unfortunately for Liu Shiwen (pictured, left) and Ding Ning (right), China's leading ladies of table tennis, they will not be catching the next rocket ship to the land of make-believe. The two veterans, each adorned with multiple Olympic and World Championship gold medals, will stay home while their teammates stage a mock Olympics. If 2020 had gone anything close to according to plan, both China's women's and men's teams would be participating in the Tokyo Olympics right now. As the games have been delayed one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the Chinese team coaches decided the best way to stay physically and psychologically sharp would be to stage an Olympic simulation. The Chinese Table Tennis Federation announced that the Olympic dry run will be held in Lingshui from August 8-21. With the events schedule for the real 2021 games already published, the Chinese men's and women's teams will replicate every event, with particular interest accruing on the new mixed doubles event. Qin Zhijian, head coach of China's men's team, is confident that any rust which the players may have accumulated during lockdown is merely superficial. "They need one week of concentrated training before the test run to recover their physical condition, and will gear up for the competition starting from August 1," said Qin. Women's team head coach Li Sun said that 43 of China's top women would be participating. In the spirit of make-believe, three were invited specifically for their ability to impersonate the playing style of medal threats like Japan's Mima Ito. "The Tokyo Olympics postponement has affected everyone's preparation," said Li. "We have trained for five months, which had a huge impact on our veterans. They have laid out a specific plan about training and adjustment over the coming days." While reigning Olympic champion Deng has used the break from competition to fine-tune her mechanics and improve her overall fitness, reigning World Champion Liu has taken the opportunity to address an elbow injury. "She (Liu) has recently undergone surgery, and is in the rehab process," confirmed coach Li. "Hopefully everyone can take it as the real Olympic Games, especially for our young athletes, who can fully showcase themselves in absence of the two veterans," said Li, who will certainly be keeping detailed notes on which of her countrywomen demonstrate star talent in the dress rehearsal. Since Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen can't come out and play, their up-and-coming teammates get to take turns piloting the rocket ship. If they truly believe in themselves, their coach Li Sun may even imagine she is seeing the next Ding Ning or Liu Shiwen.

More at Xinhua