by Henry Chen

A foot injury which occurred late 2016 is proving to be a problem for Zhang Jike.

It already affected his performance in recent competitions, forcing him to withdraw from his supposed comeback tournament at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Qatar Open and the Marvellous 12 trial for the Liebherr 2017 World Championships.

“He certainly wanted to participate in the competition. We communicated every day to actively seek ways forward. Although he works very hard and everyone notices his efforts, maintaining his physical condition is still basic. It should be said that it is his biggest opponent”, Liu Guoliang

As of now, there are still three vacancies left in the Chinese Men’s Team for the biggest table tennis event of this year, the Liebherr 2017 World Championships. The question is if Zhang Jike still has a chance to take part. Liu Guoliang is on a positive note in this aspect.

“I feel that Zhang Jike is really giving his efforts to slowly recover in this Tokyo Olympic Games cycle. He has a big potential. Once he decides to do something, he usually creates miracles”, Liu Guoliang

Let us hope that a miracle will take place in time for the Seamasrer 2017 Asian Championships which starts on Sunday 9th April in Wuxi, China. Liu Guoliang expects that Zhang Jike will compete.

Presently, Xiao Zhan and Zhang Jike are investing their time and efforts in rehabilitation.