On the morning of June 21, 1968, Rong Guotuan's body was found under a tree. In his jacket pocket, there was a note with a paragraph written on it. After people at the scene read it, they couldn't help but feel sad and shed tears.
Rong Guotuan was our country's first world champion, and his appearance helped us remove the label of "sick man of East Asia". It's just a pity that he didn't have a good ending.
Rong Guotuan was born in Hong Kong in 1937. The reason why he had an inseparable bond with table tennis was all because of his uncle. His uncle loved playing table tennis and often went to the table tennis club to play, and there were also many table tennis equipment at home.
When Rong Guotuan was 4 years old, he often went to his uncle's house to play, and it was during this time that he was introduced to table tennis at his uncle's house. At that time, he often played table tennis at his uncle's house, making a mess of his uncle's house.
Later, Hong Kong fell, and Rong Guotuan and his family returned to their hometown of Zhuhai. During his time in Zhuhai, he started practicing table tennis seriously. Every day after school, he used a bed board as a table tennis table and practiced table tennis.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Rong Guotuan returned to Hong Kong. But due to poor family conditions, he dropped out of school shortly after. After dropping out of school, Rong Guotuan started practicing table tennis full-time and became a disciple of Dai Shurong. At that time, he was only 13 years old. Rong Guotuan seemed to have a talent for table tennis. In a international competition shortly after, he became famous and earned the title of "Little King of the East District". Later, he was selected for the Hong Kong table tennis team and helped Hong Kong achieve good results. Seeing his level getting higher and higher, Rong Guotuan had the idea of serving the country. He then submitted an application to the motherland, explaining his desire to serve the motherland. Soon after, with the approval of He Long, Rong Guotuan joined the Guangzhou team and started playing for the Guangzhou team. When he joined the Guangzhou team, Rong Guotuan made a bold statement: to win the world championship within three years. Later, it turned out that this was not an empty boast, he really did it.
In 1959, Rong Guotuan participated in the 25th World Table Tennis Championships. In the team competition held earlier, he led the men's team to third place. Later in the individual competition, he lost the first game but won three consecutive games to reverse his opponent and won the championship. This championship was his first world championship and also China's first world championship. It was also in this year that Premier Zhou Enlai listed Rong Guotuan's achievement of winning China's first world championship and the 10th anniversary of the National Day as two major happy events of 1959. Because of this, the table tennis we produce later was named "Double Happiness". Two years later, at the Beijing World Table Tennis Championships, Rong Guotuan led the team again. In the team competition, he led the team to the finals after going through all the obstacles. The opponent in the final was the Japanese team. In the final, Rong Guotuan didn't start well and lost two games in a row, so the third game was extremely crucial. To encourage his teammates, Rong Guotuan shouted: "If not now, when?" Under Rong Guotuan's encouragement, his teammates won two consecutive games to tie the score. In the fifth game, Rong Guotuan took the stage again and won this game. In the end, the Chinese men's table tennis team won the team championship for the first time.
Two years later, Rong Guotuan ended his sports career and became a coach. At that time, he was only 26 years old. After becoming a coach, he also achieved good results, leading the women's table tennis team to the top of the world. Because he achieved excellent results both as an athlete and as a coach, Rong Guotuan was received by Chairman Mao in 1966.
But during a special period, Rong Guotuan suffered unjust treatment and persecution. He was unwilling to let his reputation be damaged and the immense mental pressure eventually led him to choose to end his own life at the age of 31. Before his death, he left a note in his pocket that said: "I value my reputation more than my life." Ten years after his death, Rong Guotuan's case was rehabilitated. Rong Guotuan was not only China's first table tennis world champion, but also the first sports world champion of New China. He ended the history of China not having a world champion.