根据国际乒联消息，中国乒乓球协会联合美国乒乓球协会向国际乒联提交了允许中美混双配队参赛的申请。国际乒联执行委员会11月21日召开会议并批准了该请求。

 

Chinese and US players will team up in the mixed doubles competition at the 2021 Houston World Table Tennis Championships, said the International Table Tennis Federation¹.Chinese player Lin Gaoyuan will partner with US player Lily Zhang, and US player Kanak Jha will partner with Chinese player Wang Manyu.

国际乒联宣布，中美选手将跨国配对出战2021年休斯敦世乒赛混双比赛。中国选手林高远将搭档美国选手张安，美国选手卡纳克将搭档中国选手王曼昱。

 

林高远表示：

 

I'm really happy to be partnering with Lily Zhang for the Mixed Doubles event. She's the top table tennis player in the US, our goal is to come out on top for this event. The biggest advantage about pairing with her is that she speaks Mandarin². I hope we can get into the groove³ soon, develop good chemistry and work hard towards a great performance. And I hope fans from both China and the US will cheer on the China-US Mixed Doubles pairs.

很高兴能够与张安配对参加世乒赛的混双比赛，张安是美国队一号， 我们的目标是争第一。我们配合最大的优势是她也会说中文，希望我们能够迅速进入状态，配合默契，通过努力取得好的成绩。希望两支球队的球迷都能为我们这两对混双组合加油。

 

张安表示：

 

It's going to be amazing; it is so cool to be able to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ping-Pong Diplomacy⁴ here in the US where the World championships will be held for the first time. I think it will be a historical moment, and I am really glad that our two countries are able to work together through sport. I am very excited to play with Lin Gaoyuan, it's so cool to pair with a Chinese national team player. They're the best in the world, so I will do my best and hopefully we can work well together and get a good result.

世乒赛首次在美国举行，同时庆祝“乒乓外交”50周年，真是太棒了！我认为这将是一个历史性的时刻，我很高兴我们两国能够通过体育进行良好的合作。能和林高远一起打球我很兴奋，和中国国家队球员搭档真是太棒了。他们是世界上最棒的，所以我会尽我所能，希望我们能很好地合作并取得好成绩。

 

国际乒联集团首席执行官史蒂夫·丹顿表示：

 

Once again, we are all witnessing the unique power of sport and how table tennis can create dialogues and foster mutual⁵ understanding. This will inspire us to deliver an extraordinary and historical Championships and to encourage the dreams, hopes and aspirations⁶ of not only the entire table tennis community but also the next generation worldwide.

我们要在休斯敦再次见证体育独特的力量，以及乒乓球在创建对话、促进相互理解方面发挥的作用。这将激励我们展示一场精彩又深具历史意义的世乒赛，激发整个乒乓球界乃至下一代追求梦想、希望和抱负。

 

世界乒乓球职业大联盟（WTT）理事会主席、中国乒协主席刘国梁是促成本次中美混双配对的关键人物，他表示：

 

A few days ago, when the Chinese team arrived in Houston, I was deeply moved by the efforts ITTF, USA Table Tennis and Houston Sports Authority put into organizing a sports event during a pandemic. We have been thinking about how we can build on the China-US friendship kickstarted by our predecessors⁷ 50 years ago, and further enhance this relationship through sports events, sports activities and community events. On this basis, the CTTA alongside USA Table Tennis proposed to ITTF to have Chinese and American players paired up for Mixed Doubles – so that these athletes, who are friends with each other, can work together in the competition; so that fans from both countries can cheer them on, opening a new chapter of Ping-Pong Diplomacy in this new era.

几天之前，当中国队到达休斯敦，看到疫情期间国际乒联、美国乒协、休斯敦体育局在组织赛事方面的努力，备受感动。我们一直在思考，“乒乓外交”50年后的今天，我们如何在前辈夯实的中美友谊的基础上，再深一步地通过体育赛事、体育活动、民间活动来增进两国的友谊。基于此，中国乒协联合美国乒协向国际乒联提出混双中美跨国配对的建议，让这几位原本就是朋友的运动员并肩上场，两个国家的球迷们共同为他们欢呼和呐喊，奏响新时期“乒乓外交”新篇章。

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