Chinese table tennis stars win hearts in Hong Kong with coaching and demonstration of their skills

The loudest applause and cheers went to the table tennis medalists. Ma, who won six Olympic gold medals in his career, was the fan favorite.

The captain of the Chinese table tennis team took the stage with Hong Kong Olympian Wong Chun-ting for a five-point match, with the pair putting on a light-hearted display of trick shots that delighted the crowd.

One lucky spectator was invited to try a few shots with Ma. The woman, who said she had never played table tennis, was given a step-by-step tutorial by women's singles champion Chen.

Ma said he enjoyed the three-day trip to the city and was happy to see the enthusiasm of Hong Kong people, while encouraging young players to keep going and enjoy the sport.

“I hope they continue and enjoy the joy that table tennis brings them,” he said.

Their teammates Chen and Wang Manyu, both women's team champions, as well as gold medalists Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong also took part in entertaining duels against local athletes.

“The result of the Olympic Games in Paris is perfect. Now I want to enjoy the time in Hong Kong,” Fan told the audience.

In addition to the table tennis champions, other mainland Olympians also captured the hearts of spectators with their technique and efforts to interact and engage fans.

Two spectators were selected from the audience to form a team with badminton mixed doubles champions Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong, before shooting medalist Sheng Lihao replaced Zheng to try his hand at badminton.

Sheng, who won gold in the men's 10m air rifle and mixed 10m air rifle team events at this year's Games, earned applause and laughter from the crowd for his clumsy footwork.

The image even became a trending topic on the mainland social media platform Weibo.

“He's like a robot with glitches,” joked one netizen. “His four limbs are busy in their own way.”

Gymnastics champions Liu Yang and Zou Jingyuan also represented their sport during the event.

Zou praised and encouraged young local athletes who showed off their gymnastic skills in front of the Olympians.

He described his trip to Hong Kong as a kind of homecoming: “It's like a homecoming, unlike during the pandemic, when there was a certain distance.”

Weightlifter Li Fabin, men's middleweight 61 kg champion at the Paris Games, said the experience of constant improvement has made him happy throughout his two-decade career.

“Doing something for so long can be boring, but when I push myself to the limit, I improve my performance, break records and win the championship. That makes me very happy, and happiness is my motivation,” he said.

Sports fans and enthusiasts said they were impressed and inspired by the Olympians' performance and their words of encouragement.

Engineer Keith Cheung, 50, and his nine-year-old son Karson said they were impressed by the athletes' skills.

“I love the lively atmosphere and the sporting achievements are encouraging,” said Cheung, a fan of table tennis legend Ma and gold medalist Fan.

His son Karson said he learned table tennis and badminton and was motivated by seeing stars like Ma and double world champion Zheng playing in the stadium.

“I learned from the champions what perseverance means,” the boy added.

Yan Yuqing, a sports fan from Shenzhen, said: “I am impressed by Ma Long's backhand and I especially like the moment when Chen Meng instructs the fan to continue playing. The performances of the young gymnasts from Hong Kong are also impressive.”

Athletes who were absent from the performances, including table tennis world number one Sun Yingsha, butterfly queen Zhang Yufei and weightlifter Li Wenwen, took part in a separate event at the Hong Kong Metropolitan University on Saturday morning.

“When I wear my national team's jersey, I realize that the national flag on the chest is more important than my name printed on the back,” Sun said in a speech.

Additional reporting by Leopold Chen