"This is my last National Games," table tennis veteran Liu Shiwen said at the National Games in Shaanxi province four years ago.

Liu Shiwen hits a return as her partner Lin Gaoyuan watches during the mixed doubles gold-medal match in Macao on Friday. XINHUA

At that time, the then 30-year-old claimed the mixed doubles title with partner Xu Xin.

However, at 34, she has clearly revisited that decision. Now, paired with 30-year-old Lin Gaoyuan and representing Guangdong province in mixed doubles, Liu helped stage impressive comeback victories in the quarterfinals and semifinals at the ongoing 15th National Games.

The duo went on to defeat Jiangsu province's 20-year-old Chen Yuanyu and 21-year-old Kuai Man 4-2 in the final, securing the gold medal at Macao's Galaxy Arena on Friday night.

Liu had gradually stepped away from the national team after the 2020 Tokyo Games, where she took silver in the mixed doubles with Xu. Then, in 2022, Liu and India's Sharath Kamal Achanta were elected as joint chairs of the International Table Tennis Federation Athletes' Commission.

With her responsibilities shifting toward global table tennis development, Liu has still been actively contributing to the sport.

Yet, her return to the Games — despite her earlier "last time" remark — reflects her deep, enduring love for the sport, as well as a sense of personal reconciliation.

Zhang Chao, head coach of the Guangdong team, remarked emotionally: "Technically, we were at a disadvantage and being suppressed in the final. That they still managed to find a path to victory just shows how strong they were mentally. They scored full marks in spirit."

Lin also noted: "Our persistence and willpower were fully demonstrated in the tournament."

"Winning this gold feels like a dream. Before the competition, I never imagined I would be able to compete in these Games, let alone win the title," said Liu about competing at her sixth Games.

She added that she was deeply motivated to represent Guangdong on its home turf as one of the three regional hosts of the Games, being held in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and contribute one more time to the team that had nurtured her career.

Her journey back to competition was a physically demanding one, though. Liu had previously undergone surgery for a tendon rupture in her elbow prior to the Tokyo Games.

To prepare for these National Games, she resumed high-intensity training in March, supplemented by rehabilitation sessions three to four times a week, additional physical conditioning and regular recovery treatments.

"Before me, it was rare for a top female player to continue competing after leaving the national team," Liu noted during the post-final news conference. "I genuinely love playing. I want to explore the limits of a female athlete's career, to find my own court and value, even after stepping down from the national team."

Born to a professional table tennis-playing mother, Liu picked up a paddle at a very young age and quickly demonstrated remarkable talent. By 2005, the 14-year-old prodigy had been selected for the national A-team.

Her playing style was characterized by clever variations, rapid directional changes, precise ball placement, fast rhythm and strong offensive awareness coupled with frequent close-to-table attacks.

Despite navigating multiple significant rule changes throughout her career — including the shift from 21-point to 11-point games, transition from organic to inorganic glue on the paddles, and the introduction of larger balls — Liu ultimately became one of the few core national team players who successfully adapted to each and every one of those transformations.

Her career boasts an impressive 20 world championship titles, including an unprecedented five consecutive World Cup women's singles victories, and she maintained the world No 1 ranking for 33 months.

However, her glittering career was also marked by setbacks.

Between 2009 and 2017, Liu kept missing out on titles in the women's singles at the biennial World Table Tennis Championships, before finally lifting the Geist Prize in 2019.

Her Olympic journey was similarly fraught, failing to qualify for the women's singles at three consecutive Olympic Games in London, Rio and Tokyo. In the mixed doubles, her Olympic swan song in Tokyo ended in heartbreak when she and Xu lost the final to the Japanese duo Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito.

For Liu, table tennis was once a pursuit defined by rigid timelines and external benchmarks.

She admits her perspective was once narrow, viewing success as something to be achieved "in my twenties or by a single competition", with the Olympic singles gold or a "Grand Slam" being the ultimate validation.

She now sees that as "a beautiful dream, but it shouldn't become a shackle".

"Not achieving the Grand Slam was painful, but I've had to accept it. Since childhood, I've heard about Olympics, world championships, Grand Slams — external expectations for athletes. But were these truly what I wanted from the bottom of my heart?" she said to Southern People Weekly.

After leaving the national team in 2022, she began rediscovering the pure joy of table tennis.

She now views her past struggles not as failures, but as "the most valuable lessons" in her life, and hopes her journey can serve as "positive guidance to others who may be facing difficulties".

This newfound contentment has been visibly on display throughout the current Games. In every mixed zone interview, she has met questions with her characteristic sweet smile.

"Just being able to enter the competition venue, play matches and then interact with everyone afterward — this feels truly precious to me," she said, her eyes sparkling. "I cherish these moments, and that's why I'm so happy."

It's a demeanor that easily brings to mind her widely-known nickname "Little Date" — soft and sweet on the outside, but with an unyielding core.