Ping-pong diplomacy refers to the exchange of table tennis (ping-pong) players between the United States and People's Republic of China (PRC) in the early 1970s. The event marked a thaw in Sino-American relations that paved the way to a visit to Beijing by President Richard Nixon.
Deng Yaping is a Chinese table tennis player, who won eighteen world championships including four Olympic championships between 1989 and 1997. She is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.
Jan-Ove Waldner is a Swedish former table tennis player. He is often referred to as "the Mozart of table tennis," and is widely regarded as one of the greatest table tennis players of all time. A sporting legend in his native Sweden as well as in China, he is known in China as 老瓦 Lǎo Wǎ or 常青树 Cháng Qīng Shù, because of his extraordinary longevity and competitiveness.
Guo Yue is a Chinese table tennis player and the 2007 women's world champion.
Timo Boll is a German professional table tennis player who plays with Borussia Düsseldorf and his ranking is second in the German Table Tennis National League. His ranking is No. 5 in the ITTF world rankings as of March 2019. Boll ranks among the best German table tennis players of all time, having ranked world No. 1 in 2003, 2011 and in March 2018.
Wang Nan is a female Chinese table tennis player from Liaoning. Wang remained as world #1 on the ITTF ranking system from January, 1999 to November, 2002. She is left-handed, and began playing table tennis when she was seven years old. Her particular skills are changing the placement of the ball during rallies and her loop drive, as well as her notable speed. Wang has been the leader of the women's table-tennis team of China after Deng Yaping's retirement.
Erik Lindh is a former international Swedish table tennis player who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics and in the 1992 Summer Olympics.
The World Table Tennis Championships have been held since 1926, biennially since 1957. Five individual events, which include men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's double and mixed doubles, are currently held in odd numbered years. The World Team Table Tennis Championships, which include men's team and women's team events, were first their own competition in 2000. The Team Championships are held in even numbered years.
Kong Linghui is a male Chinese table tennis player. He competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics, as well as in the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Natalia Dorota Partyka is a Polish table tennis player. Born without a right hand and forearm, she participates in competitions for able-bodied athletes as well as in competitions for athletes with disabilities. Partyka reached the last 32 of the London 2012 Olympic women's table tennis.
Shen Yanfei is a female Chinese-born table tennis player who now represents Spain and resides in Cartagena, Murcia.
Ni Xialian is a female Chinese-born table tennis player who now represents Luxembourg. She was born in Shanghai, and resides in Ettelbruck.
Ma Long is a Chinese table tennis player. The current Olympic and World Champion, he is ranked number 11 in the world by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). He has held the ranking of number 1 for a total of 64 months, the most by any male player in the history of table tennis. Ma was born in Anshan, Liaoning, China. He won a record total of 5 straight ITTF World Tour tournaments in a row, including a streak of 35 sets. He is the current captain of the Chinese National Table Tennis Team.
The Euro-Asia Cup, more recently known as the Asia-Euro Cup or Asia-Europe All Stars Challenge, is a table tennis team competition currently held annually in China between teams of professional players representing Asia and Europe.
Rong Guotuan was a Chinese table tennis player. He won the men's singles title at the 1959 World Table Tennis Championships in Dortmund, the first world championship winner representing the People's Republic of China. During the Cultural Revolution, Rong was persecuted as a "spy suspect". He committed suicide on June 20, 1968.
Zhang Li was a female international table tennis player from China.
Zheng Minzhi also known as Cheng Min-chih is a former international table tennis player from China.
Fan Zhendong is a Chinese professional table tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 1 for men's singles by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). After joining the Chinese National Table Tennis Team in 2012 as the youngest member of the team, he went on to become the youngest ITTF World Tour Champion and the youngest World Table Tennis Champion. He achieved the top spot in world rankings after holding position No. 2 for 29 consecutive months, starting from November 2015.
