Zhuang Zedong

Zhuang Zedong, 2007 (Image: Tom Nguyen)

Zhuang Zedong ( Chinese  庄則棟  /  庄则栋 , Pinyin Zhuāng Zédòng , W.-G. Chuang Tse-Tung ; born August 25, 1940 in Yangzhou , Jiangsu Province ; † February 10, 2013 in Beijing ) was a Chinese table tennis player and eight-time world champion.

Career as a table tennis player

The son of a doctor joined the Beijing “Palace of Culture for Children” in 1955 at the age of 14, where table tennis was also taught. A year later he won a youth tournament, in 1957 he became the Chinese mixed master. In 1958 he was called up for the first time in the national team that played against Hungary. He convinced with his victory over the Hungarian champion and Vice European Champion Elemér Gyetvai .

Zhuang Zedong won the national Chinese championship in singles three times in a row from 1964 to 1966. In 1966 he won the doubles title with Li Chuang-kuang.

From 1961 to 1971, Zhuang Zedong took part in four world championships . He became world champion in individual three times in a row, namely in 1961 , 1963 and 1965 . In 1965 he also won doubles with Xu Yinsheng . He took silver in doubles in 1963 (with Xu Yinsheng) and 1971 (with Liang Geliang ). At all four world championships - 1961, 1963, 1965 and 1971 - he was team world champion with China.

Style of play

Zhuang Zedong played in the Chinese penholder style with a pimple outside covering . He played the "classic" Chinese table tennis game of the 1960s - a fast block and counter game standing close to the table.

End of career

Zhuang Zedong was the Sports Minister of China from 1974 to 1976. At the 1971 World Cup, he made friends with the American player Glenn Cowan and thus laid the foundation for ping-pong diplomacy , which initiated diplomatic contacts between American and Chinese politicians.

After the end of the Cultural Revolution , he was accused of political closeness to the Gang of Four. As a result, he was arrested in 1976 and jailed for four years. Reports spoke of an attempted suicide.

From 1984 Zhuang Zedong worked as a trainer in Beijing.

Private

Zhuang Zedong was married to Atsuko Sasaki ( 佐 々 木 敦 子 ) from Japan since 1987 . He died of complications from cancer diagnosed in 2008 in a Beijing hospital.

Results from the ITTF database

source

Association	event	year	place	country	singles	Double	Mixed	team
CHN	World Championship	1971	Nagoya	JPN	last 64	silver	last 64	1
CHN	World Championship	1965	Ljubljana	YUG	gold	gold	Semifinals	1
CHN	World Championship	1963	Prague	TCH	gold	silver	Semifinals	1
CHN	World Championship	1961	Beijing	CHN	gold	Semifinals	Quarter finals	1

literature

• The Humble Boy Who Became a Master, DTS Magazine , 1966/2, page 3
• Manfred Schäfer: A conversation with Zhuang Zedong - The legend is alive , DTS magazine , 1993.
• Ian Marshall: In Memoriam: Zhuang Zedong in Swaythling Club International News No. 94, March 2013, pp. 19–20 Online (accessed June 21, 2015)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Zhuang Zedong , obituary in the online edition of the Daily Telegraph, February 10, 2013 (English, accessed February 11, 2013)
2. ↑ China's table tennis legend Zhuang Zedong dies , message on the China Central Television website from February 11, 2013 (English, accessed February 11, 2013)
3. ↑ Palmarès de Zhuang Zedong , message on the website of Radio China International from July 29, 2005 (French, accessed February 11, 2013)
4. ^ DTS magazine , 1966/10 page 44
5. ↑ DTS magazine , 1977/21 p. 4 + 1985/5 p. 46
6. ↑ Ping-pong diplomat Zhuang Zedong died in China , rp-online.de from February 10, 2013 (accessed on February 11, 2013).
7. ^ Zhuang Zedong Results from the ITTF database on ittf.com (accessed September 5, 2011).