People s Daily has rectified Zhang Jike s reputation and Cai Zhenhua stands for him! Can he turn the tables against the wind this time?

From July 18 to 20, the first "Zhang Jike Cup" National Table Tennis Championship was held at the Lin'an Sports and Culture Exhibition Center in Hangzhou. The event attracted more than 1,200 contestants from 30 regions across the country to participate. The age span was astonishing. The youngest contestant was only 5 years old, and the oldest was 68 years old. The competition consisted of three groups: primary school group, middle school group and adult group, with a total prize of up to 150,000 yuan, of which the adult group individual championship prize was 30,000 yuan, and the number of participants in the men's adult group exceeded 600. There were many professional players on the field: first-class athletes, national athletes, provincial and municipal champions, national champions, and even Paralympic champions. The contestants truly realized the concept of "professionalism and amateurism, passionate and love resonance" at the opening ceremony, a familiar figure surprised the audience and media reporters. Cai Zhenhua, former deputy director of the General Administration of Sports of China, came to the scene. The godfather of the table tennis world who is about to turn 64, rarely appeared in public in recent years. This time he made a special trip to Zhang Jike, which attracted widespread attention. Cai Zhenhua expressed his support for his former disciples at the opening ceremony: "The stubbornness and unyielding spirit of giving up will be the most rare. People will inevitably fall in this life and can get up and stand firm. This attitude is worthy of praise."

Cai Zhenhua's The appearance of the "old leads the new" is not just a simple "old leads the new", but is also interpreted as a signal of official endorsement. As a key figure who once led the national table tennis team from a low point to a peak, his position in the Chinese table tennis industry is of great importance. This move shows to the outside world: Zhang Jike is not fighting alone, and there is still the support of the national table tennis veterans behind the event. During the event, the People's Daily published an article affirming the significance of this national table tennis event. The article said, "Zhang Jike is the first Olympic champion to hold the national table tennis event in his personal name." The content focuses on Zhang Jike's personal positive role in the popularization and promotion of table tennis. The whole text also gives positive comments from the perspective of the event.

Zhang Jike's career is ups and downs. He has completed the "Grand Slam" feat of singles champions of the Olympics, World Championships and World Cup within 445 days. He was praised by Cai Zhenhua as a table tennis player who "created history and created miracles." However, a public opinion storm in 2023 pulled him from the altar into the abyss. Investigative reporter Li Weiao revealed that Zhang Jike owed 5 million yuan in gambling debts and used the private video of his ex-girlfriend Jing Tian to pay off the debt. For a time, more than ten brands such as Anta and FAW Toyota quickly terminated their contracts, and netizens collectively flooded the screen with "scumbags get out of the sports circle", but in early 2025, Zhang Jike won the reputation rights case, and finally returned Zhang Jike's innocence! However, the negative impact of the entire storm on Zhang Jike personally was quite large. After two years of silence, Zhang Jike chose a new path, took root in youth training, and founded the event. He opened a table tennis hall in Ningbo and launched a high-level training class with a monthly fee of 9,800 yuan, which unexpectedly won the popularity of parents and even attracted Brazilian families to send their children to special training across the country. The subsequent "Zhang Jike Cup" event showed his innovative thinking, such as choosing the Asian Games-level Lin'an Cultural and Sports Center as the venue, equipped with the referee and director team of the original Asian Games class, Cai Zhenhua's position this time surpassed the simple master-apprenticeship. As a "godfather" figure in the Chinese table tennis world, his actions explained Release an important signal: Zhang Jike is still accepted by the mainstream system in the table tennis world. This support is crucial to Zhang Jike's reconstruction path. In the national table tennis system, the recognition of veterans means a pass to obtain resources. Cai Zhenhua's public support has opened up a channel for Zhang Jike's subsequent events and youth training cooperation

Zhang Jike's turnaround may not be about regaining the racket, but about the new track he opened for Chinese table tennis: connecting professionalism and amateurs, integrating competition and entertainment, connecting sports and urban consumption, when Cai Zhenhua stands beside him, and when the People's Daily affirms the value of the event, this former "Tibetan Mastiff" may not need to return to the altar. He is using another method to make the table tennis land and bounce up again