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1111 China – The World Table Tennis Powerhouse

Taking a look at the lists with the names of table tennis Olympic and world champions, it isimpossible not to notice China’s authoritarian domination in team and individual table tenniscompetitions, especially during the last three decades.

This situation is the result of the dedication and effort shown by the talented players and theircoaches in representing the people of their country with pride and honor. However, the state hadalso an important contribution, by encouraging young people and children to play this sport and byproviding them all the necessary conditions to do this at the highest level.

(L-R) Ma Long, Wang Hao, coach Liu Guoliang and Zhang Jikeof China celebrate after winning the men’s table tennis team

gold medal at London 2012 Olympic Games.

Brief History of Table TennisTable tennis appeared for the first time in England, around 1880 and it was considered anentertainment activity reserved to the upper classes. According to some historic sources, its originsare in Asia or South Africa, from where it was brought to Europe by the officers of the BritishEmpire who served in the colonies.

The game spread rapidly across the continent, knowing a great popularity, based mainly on thefact that it can be played both indoor and outdoor. Also, the equipment was considered lessexpensive than that for other sports. The first semi-official competition with a large internationalparticipation was organized in England and it had an enormous success.

The International Table Tennis Federation was established in 1926 and the first official WorldChampionship was held in London, in the same year. Table tennis was introduced on the list of theOlympic sports starting with the 1988 edition of the Olympic Games.

Evolution of Table Tennis in ChinaEven from the middle of the 1930’s, the leaders of the communist party manifested a great interesttowards this sport. This contrasted with many aspects from the ideology and policy they promoted,and it was considered a peculiarity by the Western journalists and political analysts of the time.

After the WWII, table tennis became increasingly popular in China, being perceived as a sportsuitable for the members of the working class, men and women alike. The Beijing leadersencouraged and motivated high level performance, by developing nationwide training programs in

(L-R) Ding Ning, Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia, pose with theircoach Shi Zhihao, after winning gold in the women’s team

table tennis at the 2012 Summer Olympics

search of new talents and building thenecessary infrastructure.

The first years of the 1960’s marked thebeginning of the Chinese supremacy inthe official competitions. Based on theITTF statistics, only two of the WorldChampionship editions were not won bythe players from this country, at men’ssingle category, in more than fourdecades.

The peak of success was achieved atthe 2008 edition of the Olympic Games,hosted by Beijing, when the Chinesetable tennis players won all the 8

golden medals.

Table Tennis and PoliticsThe communist leaders did not miss the opportunity to use the outstanding achievements of theprofessional table tennis players to their own advantage. They did this in different ways, but thepurpose was the same: to present the ideology of the Beijing leaders in a favorable light.

Propaganda Instrument – The titles won by the table tennis teams and individual playerswere used as an argument in favor of the concern of the communist party for the welfare ofthe citizens, expressed by creating them all the necessary conditions to succeed in theircareers. From their point of view, the success of the players was in fact a victory of thepolitical system.

Diplomatic Instrument – Table tennis was also used to establish better collaborationrelations with Western countries that were ruled by capitalist governments or with formerWWII opponents. From this point of view, the so-called “Ping-pong diplomacy” episode fromthe spring of 1972 is the best illustration of the way the Chinese government used thereputation of the table tennis champions to improve the collaboration with USA.

Notable Chinese Table Tennis PlayersDeng Yaping – Two times Olympic champion (1992 and 1996), one time winner of the WorldCup (1996), three times world champion (1991, 1995 and 1997) – women’s single category.

Wang Nan – Won three editions of the World Championship (1999, 2001 and 2003), winner offour World Cup editions (1997, 1998, 2003 and 2007), one time Olympic champion (2000) –women’s single category.

Zhang Yining – Won four World Cup Table Tennis Champonships (2001-2002, 2004-2005),Grand Finals of ITTF Pro Tour for Singles four times (2000, 2002, 2005-2006). Yining won theWorld Single title once (2005) and Doubles thrice(2003, 2005, 2007), winner of OlympicsSingles (2004, 2008) and Doubles in 2004.

Liu Guoliang – One time world champion (1999), one time Olympic champion (1996), onetime winner of the World Cup (1996) – men’s single category.

Zhang Jike – Winner of the 2012 edition of the Olympic Games, one time World Cup winner(2011), two times world champion (2011, 2013) – men’s single category.

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ConclusionWith over 4 millions of amateur players and an impressive number of young and talented tennistable-specialized athletes ready to follow the footsteps of the great legends of this sport, thechances of China to maintain its reputation as the world’s table tennis powerhouse are greater thanever.

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The World Table Tennis Powerhouse – China | keithleegroupJune 28, 2013 at 10:32 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment

[…] Taking a look at the lists with the names of table tennis Olympic and world winners, it isimpossible not to notice China’s authoritarian domination in team and individual table tenniscompetitions, especially during the last three decades.http://www.tabletennistable101.com/china-table-tennis/ […]

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