Wang Tao (table tennis player, 1967)

Wang Tao ( Chinese  王 濤  /  王 涛 , Pinyin Wáng Tāo , born December 13, 1967 in Beijing ) is a Chinese table tennis player . He won seven gold medals at world championships and one silver medal at the Olympic Games.

family

Wang Tao comes from a family of artists. His father was a folk musician, his mother an opera singer, his older brother is a musician and his younger brother works as a circus tamer. Connoisseurs say of Wang Tao that he also acts like an artist at the table: even less athletic, he lets the opponent run.

Wang Tao has been married to Guanhua since June 1, 1993.

Career

Wang Tao began playing table tennis at the age of seven. Two years later he moved to a sports boarding school, where he continued to develop under the guidance of experienced coaches. From the age of twelve he worked under professional conditions. In 1987 he won the national championship of China in singles and with a club team. The left-hander was then part of the national team.

International success

At world championships he won the doubles title twice: in 1993 and 1995 with Lu Lin . Mixed with Liu Wei , he became world champion three times: 1991, 1993 and 1995 . In addition, he won titles with the Chinese team in 1995 and 1997 . He won silver in doubles in 1991 and in team in 1993.

Wang Tao was nominated twice for the Olympic Games. In 1992 he reached the quarter-finals in singles, in doubles with Lu Lin he was Olympic champion. Four years later he won silver in singles and doubles (with Lu Lin).

Because of his success, Wang Tao was named Sportsman of the Year in China in 1993 .

Bundesliga

In 1993 Wang Tao moved to the German Bundesliga at TTC Jülich , and in 1996 to TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau . In 1997 he left Germany for Osaka (Japan). Later - from 2003 - he played for SV Weru Plüderhausen .

Results from the ITTF database

Association	event	year	place	country	singles	Double	Mixed	team
CHN	Asian Championship ATTU	1994	Tianjin	CHN	Quarter finals	silver	silver	1
CHN	Asian Championship ATTU	1990	Kuala Lumpur	MAS	gold	Semifinals		1
CHN	Asian Cup	1993	Shunde	CHN	2
CHN	Asian Games	1994	Hiroshima	JPN	gold	Semifinals	Quarter finals	1
CHN	ASIA TOP8	1993	Huangshi City	CHN	1
CHN	Olympic games	1996	Atlanta	United States	silver	silver
CHN	Olympic games	1992	Barcelona	ESP	Quarter finals	gold
CHN	Pro tour	1999	Melbourne	OUT	Semifinals	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	1998	Wakayama	JPN	last 32	gold
CHN	Pro tour	1998	Doha	QAT	Quarter finals	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	1997	Doha	QAT	last 16	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	1996	Boras	SWE		gold
CHN	Pro tour	1996	Lyon	FRA		Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	1996	Xi'an	CHN		Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	1996	Kettering	CLOSELY	silver	silver
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	1996	Tian Jin	CHN		Semifinals
CHN	World Championship	1997	Manchester	CLOSELY	last 16	Quarter finals	last 32	1
CHN	World Championship	1995	Tianjin	CHN	Semifinals	gold	gold	1
CHN	World Championship	1993	Gothenburg	SWE	last 16	gold	gold	2
CHN	World Championship	1991	Chiba City	JPN	last 16	silver	gold	7th
CHN	World cup	1995	Nimes	FRA	5th-8th space
CHN	World cup	1994	Taipei	CHN	5th-8th space
CHN	World cup	1993	Guangzhou	SWE	silver
CHN	World cup	1991	Kuala Lumpur	MAS	9-12 space
CHN	World Doubles Cup	1992	Las Vegas	United States		Quarter finals
CHN	WTC World Team Cup	1995	Atlanta	United States				5
CHN	WTC World Team Cup	1991	Barcelona	ESP				1

swell

• Bernhard Krieger: Wang Tao , DTS magazine , 1994/2 pp. 38–40

Individual evidence

1. ↑ There are different details about the date of birth: Journal DTS , 1994/2 states on page 40 the "December 19, 1967". Sportquick.com and tischtennis.de name December 13 ( memento from February 12, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
2. ↑ DTS magazine , 1996/8 p. 26
3. ↑ DTS magazine , 1997/8 p. 11
4. ↑ Wang Tao (table tennis player, 1967) Results from the ITTF database on ittf.com (accessed September 17, 2011)