Vietnamese Table Tennis: Don't Chase China, Chase Yourself

At the 2026 Southeast Asian Table Tennis Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Vietnam lost 0-3 to Thailand in the semifinals. Home fans were disappointed, media called it a 'heavy defeat.' But if you look closely, that defeat is not an end – it is the clearest signal for a necessary change that we have delayed for two decades. Vietnamese table tennis has long been obsessed with the Chinese model. We send athletes to Hebei for training, hire Chinese coaches, and try to copy their characteristic left-wing attack style. The result? After 20 years, only one Vietnamese name remains in the world top 100, and even in Southeast Asia we still lag behind Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. Clearly, that hopeless chase has not brought success. Look at the data: China produces world champions through a system that selects millions of children annually, with Olympic-level facilities and coaches. Vietnam has fewer than 2,000 registered professional players. The national budget for table tennis is less than what a Shandong province club spends. You cannot compete on quantity or quality by following the same path. But Vietnamese people have something China is losing: flexibility and improvisational ability. I have followed Vietnamese table tennis since the 2000s. Our best players – like Nguyen Nam Hai, Dinh Quang Linh, and recently Nguyen Duc Tuan – succeeded thanks to natural speed and ball feel, not perfect left-wing technique. More precisely, they play 'reflex' table tennis rather than 'pattern' table tennis. That is the identity we are losing by trying to copy. In the 2026 Kazan night, I saw Mbappe destroy Argentina's defensive system. I understood then: speed and surprise can beat any rigid structure. In table tennis, the same applies. Vietnamese are small in stature but fast, clever, and good at reading situations. Why not build a Vietnamese style: varied serves, short play, cross-court placement, using hand speed to finish on the third ball? Instead of trying to hit heavy topspin like China, hit faster than China. But I could be wrong. Perhaps the safe path of copying is safer, with lower risk and easier funding approval. Perhaps I am romanticizing national identity in sports, while professional reality demands international technical standards. I accept that. But if we continue as before, Vietnamese table tennis will forever be a regional runner-up. A breakaway from the Chinese shadow, like Neymar leaving Barcelona, might be the only way to build our own empire. What I want is: in the next five years, the Vietnam Table Tennis Federation dares to try a 'speed-oriented' training program, teaching children fast reflexes, diverse serves, and most importantly – trust their own instincts instead of copying a foreign template. If Thailand can do it, if India can do it, why can't Vietnam? The question is not whether we are weaker, but whether we dare to be different.