Zhang Jike : When celebration became punishment in world cup

Zhang Jike is young, fierce and one of the biggest asset of Chinese table tennis.But, when you have too many kings fighting for the same territory, there has to epic competition to win at every level and at every point even if they are friends out of the battlefield.
This is true for Chinese table tennis team where only quality thrives when pressure mounts to an unimaginable level. Same happened in world cup 2014 final match between Ma Long and Zhang Jike when they came face to face for their final battle, which everyone was waiting for.Tensions and pressure were over the roof in the arena.
The Battle Field On Table
History favoured Ma long but Zhang Jike loves rewriting history every time he meets players like Ma Long, whose record is incomparable in table tennis.
It’s a little difficult for everyone involved when top players belonging to same country play at finals in international tournaments, but that’s common for table tennis where there is a hegemony of a single country.
The final match has to be remembered for many reasons but most importantly it was a match between Ma Long and Zhang Jike, and Zhang Jike defeated Ma Long in that aggressive match (4–3).You can imagine the atmosphere of the last set.What he did, to celebrate his victory became the only sore point of the world cup.
After he won, he started kicking the barricades and breaking barriers near the table and finally throwing his shirt off to the audience.Later ITTF fined his prize money of 45000 euros for his bad behaviour.
In the moment of celebration, everyone cheered and appreciated and no one would have anticipated of such harsh punishment by ITTF, after the match on his behaviour.
He realised his mistake and apologised for the same, saying “I am very sorry for what I did, it was not acceptable behaviour and I am sorry” — with Subki Nugraha, which was posted by ITTF on it’s Facebook Page.
Fans have different views regarding this incident, some said, he should not be punished because if compared to other sports this is nothing but some found it good for Zhang.
Another incident which created noise was his famous eagle tattoo on his back. Persistence, signifying his constant effort to fly high like an eagle.
Zhang Jike: The Warrior of table
Zhang Jike is known for his outgoing and unrestrained personality who loves to express a little more than what other Chinese players normally feel when they have their moment during the game.
He is the fastest player ever to complete a grand slam.
Table tennis players are not so expressive or bold if we compare them to other sportsmen, like football or tennis where it is normal to throw the jersey in the crowd or tennis racquets being broken off.
Sometimes, when emotions become palpable in the game and the player is unable to control himself such incidents occur.
After all, we are human for a reason.
References: http://tabletennista.com
Originally published at www.sportsflu.com on August 28, 2017.
