Zhang Yining

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

Zhang Yining
Nation:	People's Republic of China
Date of birth:	5th October 1981
Place of birth:	Beijing
Playing hand:	Right handed
How to play:	Shakehand
Best world ranking :	1 (Jan. 2003 – Dec. 2009 (except Jan. + Nov. 2008))

Zhang Yining ( Chinese  張怡寧  /  张怡宁 , Pinyin Zhāng Yíníng ; born October 5, 1981 in Beijing ) is a former Chinese table tennis player . She is the only player (including the men) who has won all major tournaments - the Olympic Games, the World Cup and the World Cup - at least twice. She also won the Pro Tour Grand Finals four times, won numerous gold medals in doubles and with the team and was number 1 in the world rankings for five years from 2003 to 2007 , making her one of the most successful table tennis players ever.

Career

World ranking positions of Zhang Yining since 2001

Zhang has been a member of the Chinese national team since 1995. In 1998 she won her first Pro Tour tournaments and qualified in singles for the first time for the Grand Finals, where she reached the quarter-finals. The following year she took part in her first world championship , where she won silver in singles and bronze in doubles. In 2000 she became world champion with the national team and won the individual grand finals. In her first World Cup participation in 2001 , she prevailed against Kim Hyon-hui in the final and did not give a set in the entire tournament. She was able to win the Grand Finals and World Cup again in 2002, and in 2003 she became world champion in doubles and vice-world champion in singles after moving up to first place in the world rankings at the beginning of the year. She was able to hold this place for five years without a break.

At the XXVIII. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens , she won gold medals in women's singles and, together with her long-time partner Wang Nan, also in women's doubles. In the singles final on August 22, 2004, the world number one Zhang defeated the unset surprise finalist and then world number 40. Kim Hyang-mi from North Korea with 4-0 sets. The year 2005 was extraordinarily successful, in which she was able to win the singles World Cup and Grand Finals as well as the world championship for the first time , in which she again won gold in doubles. She also achieved this double success in singles and doubles in 2006 at the Grand Finals. The year 2007 was less successful for Zhang, as she was Asian champion, but lost the World Cup final to Wang Nan and was eliminated from the Grand Finals and the World Cup in the semifinals. In January (and later again in November) 2008 she fell back to second place in the world rankings for a month.

She took the Olympic oath at the 2008 Olympic Games and won two gold medals, one in the individual and one with the team. After winning the World Cup in 2009, she stopped performing internationally and ended her career at number 1 in the world rankings at the age of 27 and as the reigning world and Olympic champion.

In October 2009 she married Xu Hui (* around 1962), an IT and finance tycoon . In the meantime (2010) she is studying physical education at Beijing Sports University. She gave birth to a daughter in March 2012. In 2013 she became the assistant of the dean Shi Zhihao at the Chinese table tennis academy at the Shanghai Sports University, which was newly created in 2010 .

Yining is right-handed and played for Beijing Hua Ying for several years .

International success

singles

• Olympic Games : Gold 2004 , 2008
• World Championships : Gold 2005 , 2009 ; Silver 1999 , 2003 ; Bronze 2001 , 2007
• World Cup : Gold 2001 , 2002 , 2004 , 2005 ; Silver 2006 ; Bronze 2003
• Pro Tour Grand Finals : Gold 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006; Silver 2003; Bronze 2007
• Per tour: 29 × gold, 2 × silver, 7 × bronze
• Asian Cup : Gold 2007
• Asian Games: Gold 2002

Double

• Olympic Games: Gold 2004
• World Championships: Gold 2003 , 2005 , 2007 ; Bronze 1999 , 2001
• Pro Tour Grand Finals: Gold 2004, 2006; Silver 2002, 2003
• Per tour: 21 × gold, 8 × silver, 13 × bronze
• Asian Cup: Silver 2007
• Asian Games: Silver 2002

team

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

Results from the ITTF database

Association	event	year	place	country	singles	Double	Mixed	team
CHN	Asian Championship ATTU	2007	Yangzhou	CHN	gold	silver		1
CHN	Asian Championship ATTU	1998	Osaka	JPN	Quarter finals	Quarter finals		1
CHN	Asian Cup	2008	Sapporo	JPN	5th place
CHN	Asian Games	2002	Busan	COR	gold	silver		2
CHN	Asian Championship ATTU (Juniors)	1997	Sanagi Goa	IND	silver			1
CHN	Olympic games	2008	Beijing	CHN	gold			1
CHN	Olympic games	2004	Athens	GRE	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2009	Doha	QAT	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2009	Kuwait City	KUW	Quarter finals	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2008	Yokohama	JPN	gold			1
CHN	Pro tour	2008	Changchun	CHN	gold			1
CHN	Pro tour	2008	Doha	QAT	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2008	Kuwait City	KUW	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2007	Toulouse	FRA	gold	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	2007	catfish	AUT	gold	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	2007	Shenzhen	CHN	gold	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2007	Chiba	JPN	last 16	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2007	Salwa Cup	KUW	Semifinals	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2007	Doha	QAT	Quarter finals	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2007	Velenje	SVN	Semifinals	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2007	Zagreb	HRV	last 16	last 16
CHN	Pro tour	2006	Guangzhou	CHN	gold	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2006	Singapore	SIN	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2006	Kunshan	CHN	Semifinals	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2006	Kuwait City	KUW	last 16	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2006	Doha	QAT	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2006	Zagreb	HRV	silver	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2005	Yokohama	JPN	gold	last 16
CHN	Pro tour	2005	Shenzhen	CHN	Semifinals	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2005	Doha	QAT	gold	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2004	Kobe	JPN	gold	silver
CHN	Pro tour	2004	Changchun	CHN	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2004	Wuxi	CHN	Semifinals	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	2004	Singapore	SIN	gold	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2004	Pyeongchang	COR	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2004	Athens	GRE	last 32	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2003	Malmo	SWE	gold	silver
CHN	Pro tour	2003	Aarhus	THE	gold	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	2003	Bremen	GER	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2003	Kobe	JPN	last 16	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	2003	Guangzhou	CHN	gold	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2003	Croatia	HRV	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2002	Farum	THE	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2002	Warsaw	POLE	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2002	Fort Lauderdale	United States	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2002	Doha	QAT	silver	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	2001	Rotterdam	NED	Semifinals	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	2001	Fort Lauderdale	United States	Quarter finals	last 16
CHN	Pro tour	2001	Hainan	CHN	Quarter finals	last 16
CHN	Pro tour	2000	Umeå	SWE	gold	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro tour	2000	Warsaw	POLE	gold	gold
CHN	Pro tour	2000	Kobe City	JPN	Quarter finals	silver
CHN	Pro tour	2000	Chang Chun City	CHN	Quarter finals	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	1999	Karlskrona	SWE	Quarter finals	silver
CHN	Pro tour	1999	Lievin	FRA	Quarter finals	silver
CHN	Pro tour	1999	Linz / Wels	AUT	Semifinals	silver
CHN	Pro tour	1999	Bremen	GER	last 16	silver
CHN	Pro tour	1999	Guilin	CHN	last 32	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	1998	Courmayeur	ITA	gold	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	1998	Beirut	LIB	Quarter finals	silver
CHN	Pro tour	1998	Ji 'Nan City	CHN	Quarter finals	Semifinals
CHN	Pro tour	1998	Kota Kinabalu	MAS	gold	gold
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	2007	Beijing	CHN	Semifinals
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	2006	Hong Kong	HKG	gold	gold
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	2005	Fuzhou	CHN	gold
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	2004	Beijing	CHN	Quarter finals	gold
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	2003	Guangzhou	CHN	silver	silver
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	2002	Stockholm	SWE	gold	silver
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	2000	Kobe City	JPN	gold	Quarter finals
CHN	Pro Tour Grand Finals	1998	Paris	FRA	Quarter finals
CHN	World Championship	2009	Yokohama	JPN	gold
CHN	World Championship	2008	Guangzhou	CHN				1
CHN	World Championship	2007	Zagreb	HRV	Semifinals	gold	no participants
CHN	World Championship	2006	Bremen	GER				1
CHN	World Championship	2005	Shanghai	CHN	gold	gold	last 16
CHN	World Championship	2004	Doha	QAT				1
CHN	World Championship	2003	Paris	FRA	silver	gold	Quarter finals
CHN	World Championship	2001	Osaka	JPN	Semifinals	Semifinals	no participants	1
CHN	World Championship	2000	Kuala Lumpur	MAS				1
CHN	World Championship	1999	Eindhoven	NED	silver	Semifinals	Quarter finals
CHN	World cup	2007	Cheng you	CHN	silver
CHN	World cup	2006	Urumqi	CHN	silver
CHN	World cup	2005	Guangzhou	CHN	gold
CHN	World cup	2004	Hangzhou	CHN	gold
CHN	World cup	2003	Hong Kong	HKG	3rd place
CHN	World cup	2002	Singapore	SIN	gold
CHN	World cup	2001	Wuhu	CHN	gold
CHN	WTC World Team Cup	2007	Magdeburg	GER				1

Individual evidence

1. ↑ tischtennis magazine , 2009/11 p. 7
2. ↑ tischtennis magazine , 2010/11 p. 7
3. ↑ tischtennis magazine , 2012/5 p. 7
4. ↑ tischtennis magazine , 2013/4 p. 7
5. ↑ Zhang Yining Results from the ITTF database on ittf.com (accessed September 17, 2011)

Web links

• ITTF website with biographical information
• Zhang Yining biography on the website of the World Table Tennis Federation ittf.com (English)
• Zhang Yining Article about Zhang Yining on the website of the World Table Tennis Association ittf.com (accessed August 5, 2011)