Wang Nan

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Wang is the family name here, Nan is the first name.

Wang Nan
Wang Nan 2001
Other spellings:	王 楠
Nation:	People's Republic of China
Date of birth:	October 23, 1978
Place of birth:	Fushun
Playing hand:	Left
How to play:	Shakehand , attack
Best world ranking :	1 (Jan. 1999 – Dec. 2002)

Wang Nan ( Chinese  王 楠 , Pinyin Wáng Nán ; born October 23, 1978 in Fushun ) is a Chinese table tennis player . It was ranked number one in the ITTF world rankings between 1999 and 2001 and won four gold medals in three Olympic competitions. In addition, she is so far the only player to have won both singles and doubles in three consecutive world championships and doubles in five consecutive world championships. In addition, she won the World Cup four times and the Pro Tour Grand Finals seven times (twice in singles and five times in doubles), which makes her one of the most successful table tennis players ever.

Career

World ranking positions of Wang Nan since 2001

Wang Nan started playing table tennis at the age of seven. She is left handed. In 1994 she won the Sweden Open and was appointed to the Chinese national team the following year. In her first World Cup participation , she reached the quarter-finals in singles, just like the following year in the first Pro Tour Grand Finals. She achieved her first major successes in 1997: She won the World Cup , was runner-up in singles and doubles as well as world champion with the team and won silver in singles and gold in doubles at the Grand Finals. At the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1998 , Wang Nan won all four achievable gold medals in singles, doubles, mixed and with the team. At the end of the year she again won the World Cup and the final tournament of the ITTF Pro Tour in singles and doubles.

In 1999 he took part in the World Championships in Eindhoven , the Netherlands , where Wang Nan won gold in singles and doubles (with Li Ju ). In the same year she was in first place in the world rankings for the first time . At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney she won gold in singles and doubles (again with Li Ju), with which she had won all major tournaments at least once, and this (where possible) in both singles and doubles. In 2001 she became world champion in singles and doubles for the second time in a row , but had to give up injured at the World Cup .

In 2002 she was in two finals in singles and the team competition of the Asian Games in Busan , but lost in both. This led to criticism of her demeanor and allegations that she was too inactive and lacking self-confidence. There was speculation that Wang Nan would end her career, and in January 2003 she also lost No. 1 in the world rankings. In the same year at the World Table Tennis Championships in Paris , Wang Nan won the singles and doubles titles for the third time in a row, she was also world champion in mixed and World Cup winner for the third time . At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens she was unable to defend her singles title, but repeated winning the doubles tournament (with Zhang Yining , to whom she lost the World Cup final later that year ).

In 2005 she fell back to 8th place in the world rankings - before that she was eliminated in the last 32 of the World Cup , but had also won her fourth title in doubles - and in 2006 even to 10th place, even if she did won numerous successes in doubles this year. In 2007 she was once again in second place in the world rankings, becoming double world champion for the fifth time in a row and World Cup winner for the fourth time . At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing , she won her fourth gold medal with the team and, after beating Guo Yue in the semi-finals and losing to Zhang Yining, the individual silver medal. With the team she also became world champion for the sixth time . In 2008 she ended her international career.

successes

singles

• Olympic Games : Gold 2000 ; Silver 2008
• World Championships : Gold 1999 , 2001 , 2003 ; Silver 1997
• World Cup : Gold 1997 , 1998 , 2003 , 2007 ; Silver 2000 , 2004
• Pro Tour Grand Finals : Gold 1998, 2001; Silver 1997, 2000; Bronze 2003, 2004
• Per tour: 16 × gold, 14 × silver, 8 × bronze
• Asian Cup : silver 1998; Bronze 2007
• Asian Games: Gold 1998; Silver 2002; Bronze 2006

Double

• Olympic Games: Gold 2000, 2004
• World Championships: Gold 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005 , 2007 ; Silver 1997
• Pro Tour Grand Finals: Gold 1997, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2006; Silver 2003; Bronze 2000
• Per tour: 16 × gold, 15 × silver, 14 × bronze
• Asian Cup: Gold 1996; Silver 2007
• Asian Games: Gold 1998; Bronze 2002, 2006

Mixed

• World Championships: Gold 2003; Silver 2007; Bronze 1997, 1999
• Asian Cup: Gold 1998; Silver 1996
• Asian Games: Gold 1998, 2006; Bronze 2002

team

• Olympic Games: Gold 2008
• World Championships: Gold 1997, 2000, 2001, 2004 , 2006 , 2008
• World Cup: Gold 2007
• Per tour: 2 × gold
• Asian Cup: Gold 1996, 1998, 2007
• Asian Games: Gold 1998, 2006; Silver 2002

politics

Wang Nan is a member of the Communist Party and was elected to the Chinese Congress. She currently (2010) works in the Central Committee of the Communist Youth Association of China.

Private

Wang Nan has been married to real estate agent Guo Bin since 2006. She has a son (* 2010).

Results from the ITTF database

Association	event	year	place	country	singles	Double	Mixed	team
CHN	Asian Championship ATTU	2007	Yangzhou	CHN	Semifinals	silver		1
CHN	Asian Championship ATTU	1998	Osaka	JPN	silver	Quarter finals	gold	1
CHN	Asian Championship ATTU	1996	Kallang	SIN	last 16	gold	silver	1
CHN	Asian Cup	2006	Kobe	JPN	1st place
CHN	Asian Cup	1996	New Delhi	IND	4th
CHN	Asian Games	2006	Doha	QAT	Semifinals	Semifinals	gold	1
CHN	Asian Games	2002	Busan	COR	silver	Semifinals	Semifinals	2
CHN	Asian Games	1998	Bangkok	THA	gold	gold	gold	1
CHN	Asian Championship ATTU (Juniors)	1994	Joetsu Niigata	JPN	gold			1
CHN	ASIA TOP12	1999	Kish Island	IRI	1
CHN	Olympic games	2008	Beijing	CHN	silver			1
CHN	Olympic games	2004	Athens	GRE	Quarter finals	gold
CHN	Olympic games	2000	Sydney	OUT	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2008	Daejeon	COR	Semifinals	silver
CHN	Pro tour	2008	Yokohama	JPN	last 32			1
CHN	Pro tour	2008	Changchun	CHN	Quarter finals			1
CHN	Pro tour	2008	Doha	QAT	Semifinals	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2008	Kuwait City	KUW	Semifinals	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2007	Toulouse	FRA	silver	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2007	catfish	AUT	Semifinals	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	2007	Chiba	JPN	gold	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2007	Salwa Cup	KUW	silver	silver
CHN	Pro tour	2007	Doha	QAT	silver	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2007	Velenje	SVN	silver	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	2007	Zagreb	HRV	silver	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	2006	Yokohama	JPN	last 32	silver
CHN	Pro tour	2006	Guangzhou	CHN	silver	silver
CHN	Pro tour	2006	Singapore	SIN	silver	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2006	Kunshan	CHN	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2006	Kuwait City	KUW	Quarter finals	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2006	Doha	QAT	Quarter finals	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2005	Doha	QAT	silver	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2004	Kobe	JPN	Quarter finals	silver
CHN	Pro tour	2004	Changchun	CHN	Quarter finals	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2004	Wuxi	CHN	Quarter finals	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	2004	Singapore	SIN	silver	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2004	Pyeongchang	COR	Semifinals	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2004	Athens	GRE	gold	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2003	Malmo	SWE	Quarter finals	silver
CHN	Pro tour	2003	Aarhus	THE	Quarter finals	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	2003	Bremen	GER	silver	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2003	Kobe	JPN	Quarter finals	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	2003	Guangzhou	CHN	last 16	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2003	Croatia	HRV	last 32	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2002	Fort Lauderdale	United States	Quarter finals	silver
CHN	Pro tour	2002	Qingdao City	CHN	gold	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	2002	Doha	QAT	gold	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2001	Yokohama	JPN	gold	silver
CHN	Pro tour	2001	Seoul	COR	gold	silver
CHN	Pro tour	2001	Hainan	CHN	gold	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2000	Rio de Janeiro	BRA	gold	silver
CHN	Pro tour	2000	Fort Lauderdale	United States	gold	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	2000	Kobe City	JPN	gold	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2000	Chang Chun City	CHN	silver	silver
CHN	Pro tour	1999	Linz / Wels	AUT	Quarter finals	gold
CHN	Pro tour	1999	Bremen	GER	gold	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	1999	Kobe City	JPN	gold	silver
CHN	Pro tour	1999	Guilin	CHN	Semifinals	silver
CHN	Pro tour	1998	Ji 'Nan City	CHN	gold
CHN	Pro tour	1998	Melbourne	OUT	Semifinals	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	1998	Wakayama	JPN	Quarter finals	gold
CHN	Pro tour	1998	Doha	QAT	Quarter finals	gold
CHN	Pro tour	1997	Beirut	LIB	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	1997	Zhuhai	CHN	silver	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	1997	Fort Lauderdale	United States	gold	silver
CHN	Pro tour	1997	Rio de Janeiro	BRA	Semifinals	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	1996	Belgrade	YUG	silver	gold
CHN	Pro tour	1996	Bolzano	ITA	silver	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	1996	Xi'an	CHN	Quarter finals	silver
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	2007	Beijing	CHN	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	2006	Hong Kong	HKG	Quarter finals	gold
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	2004	Beijing	CHN	Semifinals	gold
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	2003	Guangzhou	CHN	Semifinals	silver
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	2001	Hainan	CHN	gold
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	2000	Kobe City	JPN	silver	Semifinals
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	1999	Sydney	OUT	Quarter finals	gold
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	1998	Paris	FRA	gold	gold
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	1997	Hong Kong	HKG	silver	gold
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	1996	Tian Jin	CHN	Quarter finals	Quarter finals
CHN	World Championship	2008	Guangzhou	CHN				1
CHN	World Championship	2007	Zagreb	HRV	Quarter finals	gold	silver
CHN	World Championship	2006	Bremen	GER				1
CHN	World Championship	2005	Shanghai	CHN	last 32	gold	Quarter finals
CHN	World Championship	2004	Doha	QAT				1
CHN	World Championship	2003	Paris	FRA	gold	gold	gold
CHN	World Championship	2001	Osaka	JPN	gold	gold	last 32	1
CHN	World Championship	2000	Kuala Lumpur	MAS				1
CHN	World Championship	1999	Eindhoven	NED	gold	gold	Semifinals
CHN	World Championship	1997	Manchester	CLOSELY	silver	silver	Semifinals	1
CHN	World Championship	1995	Tianjin	CHN	Quarter finals	no participants	last 16
CHN	World cup	2007	Cheng you	CHN	gold
CHN	World cup	2004	Hangzhou	CHN	silver
CHN	World cup	2003	Hong Kong	HKG	gold
CHN	World cup	2001	Wuhu	CHN	13-16 space
CHN	World cup	2000	Phnom Penh	CAM	silver
CHN	World cup	1998	Taipei	TPE	gold
CHN	World cup	1997	Shanghai	CHN	gold
CHN	WTC World Team Cup	2007	Magdeburg	GER				1

Web links

• Profile on beijing2008.cn ( Memento from March 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
• Article on tabletennismaster.com
• Wang Nan biography on the website of the World Table Tennis Federation ittf.com (accessed August 5, 2011)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DTS magazine , 2002/12 page 7
2. ↑ ^{a b} magazine tischtennis , 2010/10 page 7
3. ↑ Wang Nan Results from the ITTF database on ittf.com (accessed September 16, 2011)