Zhang Yining

Zhang Yining (simplified Chinese: 张怡宁; traditional Chinese: 張怡寧; pinyin: Zhāng Yíníng; born 5 October 1981)[1] is a Chinese table tennis player who retired in 2009. She is considered one of the greatest female players in the sport's history. In terms of achievements, she is one of the most successful female table tennis players (alongside Ding Ning, Deng Yaping, Wang Nan, Li Xiaoxia) having won the gold medal in each of the Table Tennis World Cup, the Table Tennis World Championships, and the Olympic Games. She is also the first player overall, and the first female, to have completed a Double Grand Slam.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhang.
Zhang Yining
Full nameZhang Yining
Nationality China
Born (1981-10-05) 5 October 1981[1]
Beijing, China
Height168 cm (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Weight54 kg (119 lb)[1]
Table tennis career
Playing styleShake hands grip
Highest ranking1
Medal record
Women's table tennis
Representing  China
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 4 0 0
World Championships 10 2 4
World Cup 4 2 1
Total 18 4 5
Summer Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens Singles
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Singles
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Team
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2000 Kuala LumpurTeam
Gold medal – first place2001 OsakaTeam
Gold medal – first place2003 ParisDoubles
Gold medal – first place2004 DohaTeam
Gold medal – first place2005 ShanghaiSingles
Gold medal – first place2005 ShanghaiDoubles
Gold medal – first place2006 BremenTeam
Gold medal – first place2007 ZagrebDoubles
Gold medal – first place2008 GuangzhouTeam
Gold medal – first place2009 YokohamaSingles
Silver medal – second place1999 EindhovenSingles
Silver medal – second place2003 ParisSingles
Bronze medal – third place1999 EindhovenDoubles
Bronze medal – third place2001 OsakaSingles
Bronze medal – third place2001 OsakaDoubles
Bronze medal – third place2007 ZagrebSingles
World Cup
Gold medal – first place2001 WuhuSingles
Gold medal – first place2002 SingaporeSingles
Gold medal – first place2004 HangzhouSingles
Gold medal – first place2005 GuangzhouSingles
Silver medal – second place2006 UrumqiSingles
Silver medal – second place2007 ChengduSingles
Bronze medal – third place2003 Hong KongSingles

History

Zhang Yining held the ITTF #1 ranking continuously from 2003 to 2009, except two months in 2008, remaining as a dominant figure in women's table tennis,[2] with four Olympic gold medals, ten World Championships, and four World Cup wins.[3] During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she was often referred to by commentators as "The Yellow Beast", denoting her dominance in the sport. She uses a specially made Zhang Yining ZLC for her blade made by butterfly, and tenergy 05 for forehand and tenergy 64 for her backhand.

Zhang is a graduate from Beijing Shichahai Sports School, where Li Jiawei of Singapore studied as well.

Zhang was married in October 2009 and has not been present in table tennis tournaments since then. She announced her retirement from international play in 2011 and she went to the United States to study at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and learn to better speak English.[4][5] This makes her one of few players to retire whilst holding both the World and Olympic titles for singles and team event in table tennis. Zhang also said she would like to introduce to Americans the sport of table tennis.[6]

Since 2010, Zhang serves as the assistant president of the China Table Tennis College in Shanghai.[7]

Successes

Olympic record

2008 Summer Olympics Women's Table Tennis Singles results

Zhang participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, winning gold in both the women's singles and women's team competition. Zhang successfully defended her singles Olympic gold medal, defeating compatriot Wang Nan in the finals 8-11, 13–11, 11–8, 11–8, 11–3.

She was also the women's doubles gold medal winner at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

The following table shows the scores of the women's singles table tennis matches that Zhang Yining played during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games:

Round Result Opponent's country Opponent Score By match
1st Bye
2nd Bye
3rd W  Belarus Victoria Pavlovich 4-0 11-7 11-2 11-7 11-5
4th W  Japan Fukuhara Ai 4-1 11-5 11-2 11-5 9-11 11-8
Quarters W  Singapore Feng Tianwei 4-1 13-11 12-14 14-12 12-10 13-11
Semis W  Singapore Li Jia Wei 4-1 9-11 11-8 12-10 11-8 11-5
Finals W  China Wang Nan 4-1 8-11 13-11 11-8 11-8 11-3

Click here to see further details regarding the 2008 Summer Olympics Table Tennis competition results.

2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony

At the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Zhang took the Olympic Oath on behalf of all competitors at the Games.

See also

References
  1. "Zhang Yining". en.olympic.cn. Chinese Olympic Committee. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  2. "World ranking Record for ZHANG Yining (CHN)". ittf.com. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  3. "ZHANG Yining (CHN)". ittf.com. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  4. "Chinese table tennis legend Zhang Yining calls it quits". chinadaily.com.cn. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  5. Liu Shanshan (9 May 2011). "Chinese champions start new life in US". chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  6. 赴美國學習 未來沒想好 張怡寧正式承認退役. xinhuanet.com (in Chinese). 6 April 2011. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  7. "Zhang Yining-乒乓球学院英文". cttce.sus.edu.cn. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
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