(Translation)
February 1987, World Table Tennis Championships, New Delhi, India. He Zhili made a choice that shocked the Chinese table tennis world: she decided to challenge the so-called "tradition" of Chinese table tennis for decades. It was the Women's Singles Semi-Final of the World Table Tennis Championships, and He Zhili, against the Chinese table tennis team's "decision to give up the ball", eliminated her partner Guan Jianhua in the Semi-Final, and then, under tremendous pressure, defeated South Korea's Liang Yingzi in the Final to win the Women's Singles World Table Tennis Championships... ...That night, He Zhili cried! Though, she is a girl who doesn't like to shed tears.
He Zhili won the world championship. What awaited her was a silent condemnation. Careful people noticed that almost all the news media in China, when covering the World Championship, passed over He Zhili's name, so much so that people couldn't figure out how she beat Guan Jianhua and then Liang Yingzi. Only a few newspapers in Shanghai published a brief message and a congratulatory letter from the Shanghai municipal government to He Zhili. That was all. But in the Chinese table tennis world, what He Zhili did was considered an unforgivable offense. She is considered "a typical example of violating the honorable tradition of collectivism". Collectivism has been the key to the Chinese table tennis team's success over the decades. The issue of whether or not to "let the ball go" also sparked an unprecedented debate.
At the time, He Zhili and I were just meeting and nodding. But I sincerely admired the courage of He Zhili. In September of that year, I was assigned the task of covering the Sixth National Games for the New People's Evening News, and took a seven-member reporting team to Guangzhou, where I stayed at the Guangzhou Baiyun Hotel. One day, there was an unexpected guest. She was He Zhili. The delicate face, cut a head of short can not be short hair, completely a "tomboy" look. "Do you have a room? I squeeze a few days in your place ......" she unexpectedly put forward a request. It turned out that her mission for the Games had been completed, but she did not want to rush back to Shanghai, and wanted to watch the Games in Guangzhou for a few days. Coincidentally, it just so happened that our veteran reporter, Mr. Zhang Xiangchao, had gone to Taishan to cover volleyball and had an empty room. So, there was one more special member in our reporting team. That's how I met He Zhili and got to know her better.
Late one night, we were busy with the day's interviews. So He Zhili asked us to go to a fast-food restaurant next to the Baiyun Hotel for dinner. A couple of beef curry lunch boxes, plus a few bottles of beer. I found that He Zhili can drink, a few bottles of beer quickly finished, so we began to upgrade, and asked for a bottle of wine. As we drank, I asked He Zhili, "Can you drink white wine?" She replied, "I won't lose to you! If you don't believe me, let's try it sometime." That day, I brought up the "handicap issue". I asked her, "Why don't you let the ball go?" "Why should I let the ball go?" She asked. She told me that the only thing on her mind at that time was to be the World Champion and to participate in the Olympic Games ...... because, according to the rules, the World Champion of this term was the ex-officio representative of the table tennis tournament of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. I heard that the Chinese table tennis team made the decision to let He Zhili "let the ball", but also after careful consideration. Because they thought it would be more favorable for Guan Jianhua to play against Liang Yingzi than He Zhili, who had lost to Liang Yingzi 0-2 in the 1986 Asian Games. In addition, in the women's singles matches of the World Series, He Zhili had a favorable draw, and she hardly met any tough opponents, while the other Chinese players were scraping it out. However, He Zhili does not think so. She said she wanted to avenge the Seoul Asian Games. "Why should I let the ball?!" This sentence left a deep impression on me. In He Zhili, I seem to see a "rebellious" character.
He Zhili never thought she was wrong. She told me that the night after she eliminated Guan Jianhua, she found herself alone. No one cared to pick her up, and almost everyone, looked at her differently. But He Zhili's spirit didn't break. "I said to myself, I'm not wrong, I'm not wrong." However, she felt ashamed of Guan Jianhua, she said, "At that time, the only uneasiness I felt was that I felt sorry for Guan Jianhua. All the way to the last moment, she thought that all I had done was to try to make the 'letting of the ball' look like the real thing." "At that time, she was so sad that she cried too!" ...... I realized that He Zhili is a very stubborn, but also very emotional person.
However, He Zhili seemed to be too naive. She thought that by winning the world championship, she would be able to take part in the 1988 Seoul Olympics as a matter of course. However, He Zhili's name was removed from the list of the Chinese sports delegation. Of course, there were all sorts of "reasonable" and explanatory explanations, but in 1988, I went to Seoul as a special correspondent of Xinmin Evening News to cover the 24th Olympic Games. In Seoul, I saw many posters of the Olympic Games, among which there were two reflecting Chinese athletes, one of which was He Zhili's heroic posture of swinging the racket to hit the ball. I stood in front of this poster and was overwhelmed with emotion. When will we really be able to fully respect the value of the individual? At the press center, I asked a staff member for a poster with He Zhili's portrait, and was going to bring it back and give it to He Zhili as a souvenir. After returning to China, one day, He Zhili came to our newspaper office. When he saw me, he still looked innocent and lively. However, when I talked about what I saw and heard of the Olympic Games, her words are not much, and even some sadness ...... So, I finally did not resolve to take out that poster.
Not long after, He Zhili married far away in Osaka, Japan. I never saw her again. 1991, I visited Japan with the Chinese amateur Go delegation and stayed in Osaka for one day. I found out the phone number He Zhili left for me and wanted to meet her. Her Japanese husband, Koyama, said that He Zhili was not at home and that she was working at her table tennis club. So I left my name and phone number. At about 12:30 p.m., Ji-Li Ho called and said that she had just come home from work, and that she wanted to come and see me, and asked her husband to drive and accompany us around Osaka. ...... However, I declined. However, I declined because I knew it would take an hour and a half to drive from her home. I didn't want to interfere with her work and rest in the middle of the night. So I lied to her and said, "In three hours, I'm leaving Osaka ......"
Ho Chi-Li, who later took her husband's last name, was called Koyama Chi-Li. She still loves table tennis, the only difference is that the country she once represented is Japan, and joined the ongoing Hiroshima Asian Games table tennis tournament competition ...... more surprising is that this has been thirty years old, eliminated three Chinese world champions in a row: Chen Jing, Qiao Hong, Deng Yaping, for the country of Japan to win a gold medal! ...... This incident caused a furor in China. People who scolded her and hated her; people who loved her and pitied her. Some people saw from the TV broadcast that He Zhili's "anger" seemed to be very strong. However, I only saw one thing, that is, He Zhili body nature "rebellious" ping pong character.
He Zhili later divorced Xiaoshan. There are many reasons for this, which will be discussed later.
Things in the world, the helpless. The first time I saw this was when I was in the middle of the night, and it was the first time I saw it in the morning.