(Anshan)
(Memorial Hill Park)
Ma Long · An Shan
Ma Long: When was it? Maybe 1993 or 1994.
Do you know the old city sports school? The civil stadium on the left?
(Driver: The civil stadium was torn down. There is a new Angang stadium.)
Ma Long: I did not know. I remember it was on the left.
I was not talking about the big stadium. There was a civil stadium on the opposite side of city sports school.
(Driver: Right. But both were torn down.)
Ma Long: I did not know the city sports school was gone.
(Beijing Table Tennis Team, Xiannongtan Stadium)
Ma Long: Memory of Anshan...
primary school, table tennis training, simple and boring, my life in Anshan when I was young.
I also spent a lot of time with my parents and relatives. I enjoyed the feeling of big family.
Later when I left hometown, I was by myself or hung out with friends.
(Driver: This is the street where the civil stadium used to be. You see that building? That's the position of the old stadium.)
Ma Long: I recalled it was a few blocks away.
(Driver: No, all was changed. That building under construction used to be a soccer court.)
Ma Long: I think the old city sports school should be on the left of us.
(Driver: On the left of the building is a lake now.)
Ma Long: Where was the oldest stadium then?
(Driver: Right there, the building under construction. There used to be the oldest stadium with soccer court.)
Ma Long: I know many table tennis world champions were born in Anshan. So many.
I left Anshan in 1999 at the age of 11 and went to Beijing in 2001.
I spent more time out of hometown than in Anshan.
I can still remember clearly that I won champions in Anshan.
The memory of winning champions always lasts.
I forgot the exact year but I remember I received 300 CNY in prize money winning a champion.
I think this is the place. Behind that sports goods store was the civil stadium.
(Driver: There is still a tennis court over there.)
Ma Long: Then it should be the old stadium. There used to be swimming pool.
My 300 CNY prize money was spent in a restaurant over there. But it looks totally different now.
At that time, I did not know how to spend a big money of 300 CNY.
That's the Youth Center.
(Driver: A lot of changes.)
Ma Long: When I was young, the difficulty came from physical tiresome.
Not much on mental side.
Like the training was too much.
But with passion, I could still stand it.
When I grew up, the difficulty came from the losses of the matches and tournaments.
More losses, more pressure. I started to feel mental tiresome.
I only stay home for a couple of days and I don't play table tennis here.
Honestly, I will get bored if I stay here for a little longer.
Once I was so bored here. I did not want to go to crowded places.
So I ran in our community.
I am a person of responsibility.
I feel the pressure getting greater and greater.
As I have won a lot, the expectation from other people keeps increasing.
They think I should win the next champion.
I also want to perform well. All adds up to the pressure.
(I am 12 years old.)
(I am from Anshan, Liaoning.)
(I have played for 7 years.)
(I am from Harbin, Heilongjiang.)
(I am 14 years old.)
(I have played for 7 years.)
(I have played for 9 years.)
(I am from Anshan. My name is Liu Zhenlong.)
(My name is Lou Shitan. I like Ma Long the most.)
