Paddle Sweep: How Chinese rule the world of table tennis

Few countries have lorded over a sport as China in table tennis. Every time, since the sport was introduced in the Olympics in 1988, China has swept the men’s and the women’s team titles. They’ve won 64 of the 124 medals awarded in TT since 1988 (including the nine awarded in Paris so far). More impressively, they have won 35 of the 40 golds, roughly 88%.

But China’s presence in global table tennis goes way beyond its physical boundaries. And one is not talking about countries like Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore and others which have Chinese ancestry.

Trawling the list of paddlers on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) website, one comes across at least 16 such players representing countries ranging from the USA to Chile, from Germany to Fiji in the Olympics 2024. Besides, several other paddlers in Paris are of mixed ancestry — either of the parents is Chinese. There is another lot whose identities could not be verified, but who most likely have a Chinese link.

Most of these players migrated to either Western European countries such as Spain, Portugal, France, and Monaco or to prosperous firstworld nations such as the USA, Canada or Australia with little pedigree in ping pong. Women vastly outnumber men in this category.

Zhengzhou-born Yuan Jia Nan, 39, is one such paddler representing France. She was introduced to the sport by her mother.

“At age 18, I made the decision of going to Europe. My father was not for it but my mother encouraged me to make the move. A player that my mother used to train was playing in Hennebont, France. It was she who found me a team in France, Saint-Berthevin Saint-Loup. I was welcomed by the club’s president and his family as their own daughter,” she told France 3 YouTube channel in 2018. Yuan, who lives in Cholet, a commune in western France, got French citizenship in 2011 and began representing France in 2018. She also participated in the Tokyo 2020.

Shan Xiaona, 41, was born in Liaoning, a coastal province in north-east China. She migrated to Germany and became part of the women’s team that claimed silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Also from Liaoning, Shao Jieni followed a similar trajectory. She became a Portuguese citizen in 2015 and represented her new country in the Rio Olympics. She is doing so again.

The Chinese presence across the globe is an ongoing story. In London Olympics 2012, the Chinese were draped in the colours of 23 different countries.

The life histories of these paddlers in Paris reveal interesting patterns. Some have not only represented China in the past but also won medals for their parent country. Shanghai-born Ni Xia Lian won the team and mixed doubles gold for China at the 1983 World TT Championships. Now 61, she is representing Luxembourg.

Second-generation Chinese, who were born and bred in Europe, are also part of the assemblage. Dang Qiu’s parents left China in the 1990s. He was born in Germany’s Nurtingen town and is currently ranked a respectable world no 11, Qiu spearheaded Germany to a silver medal in World team championship in 2022.
The presence of Chinese-origin paddlers also extends to players from Chinese Taipei. For instance, Rachel Sung was born in the USA and represents the country but her parents are from Chinese Taipei.
Some players shuffled from one country to another before settling down. Yang Xiaoxin was born in China and moved to France when 17 years of age. Now 36, the table tennis player is representing Monaco. Yu Fu, 45, was also born in China. He moved to Spain in 1998 before shifting base to Portugal in 2001. Xiao Maria was born in Spain to Chinese parents who were professional TT players. The 30-year-old representing Spain has also turned out for Portugal in the past.

There are some of mixed ancestry such as teenager Anna Hursey, who turned out for Great Britain and was defeated by Manika Batra in Paris. Her mother is Chinese and to play table tennis full-time the Welsh paddler moved to Tianjin in northern China in 2019.

Chequered Chinese

Players of Chinese origin representing other countries in Paris
Men | Dang Qiu (Germany). Eugene Wang (Canada). Wang Yang (Slovakia)

Women | Ni Xia Lian (Luxembourg). Shao Jieni (Portugal). Rachel Sung (USA). Amy Wang (USA). Xiao Maria (Spain). Yang Xiaoxin (Monaco). Yu Fu (Portugal). Yuan Jia Nan (France). Zheng Zhiying (Chile). Zhang Lily (USA). Zhang Mo (Canada). Shan Xiaona and Wan Yuan (Germany)

Why Chinese dominate it?
Table tennis is associated with national identity and pride in China. After speaking with paddlers who have played there, Álvaro Munno of Argentina wrote a long article for racketinsight.com detailing what makes China such a towering force. Munno attributes their success to a ruthlessly efficient system, super infrastructure, hardworking coaches, including ex-champions, tactical mastery and hard training. An estimated 300 million play the sport, of them 10 million competitively. “It is reported that there is 1 table for every 7 people,” he writes.

Did you know?
Chinese leader Mao Zedong not only loved the game but also promoted it, on and off the table. Exchange of table tennis players between the US and China became a turning point in improving the relations between the two countries with contrasting ideologies. The exchange became known as “ping pong diplomacy”.