61-year-old writes Olympic history
At 61, many people are already heading towards retirement. But not Chinese-born Ni Xia Lian. The table tennis player is participating in the Olympics for the sixth time and is already making history for her new home, Luxembourg, in the preliminary rounds.
Ni Xia Lian has been present at the Olympics in Sydney (2000), Peking (2008), London (2012), Rio (2016), and Tokyo (2021). She will also participate in Paris (2024). On the first day of the Games, the 61-year-old made Olympic history by winning against Sibel Altinkaya from Turkey at table three, just before midnight. More than 6,000 spectators cheered her 4-2 victory at the Sud Paris Arena 4. Not only is Ni Xia Lian now in the round of the best 32 players, but she is also the oldest player in history to achieve this feat.
Later Success in Luxembourg
At the opening ceremony on the Seine on Friday evening, Ni Xia Lian stood at the front of the boat next to shot putter Bob Bertemes as the Luxembourgish flag bearer. However, Ni Xia Lian's table tennis debut was for her birth country, China. At the World Championships in 1983 in Tokyo, the then 19-year-old won gold with the Chinese team and also won the mixed title with Guo Yuehua. Two years later, at the World Championships in Gothenburg in 1985, she finished second in the doubles with Cao Yanhua.
However, by the time table tennis became an Olympic discipline in Seoul in 1988, Ni Xia Lian had already retired - at least temporarily. The competition in her home country had become too fierce, and she could no longer keep up.
After retiring in the mid-1980s, Ni Xia Lian wanted to study. In 1989, she immigrated to Germany. She played in the 2. Bundesliga for Bayer Uerdingen for a short time before moving to Luxembourg. "I thought it would only be for two years," the 61-year-old told the Welt. "But then I stayed."
In 1991, she represented Luxembourg for the first time in an international competition. She won gold in the singles for Luxembourg in 1998 and 2002. At the age of 58, she won a doubles medal at the World Championships in Houston in 2021. Even a few months before her 60th birthday, the Luxembourger still belongs to the top 50 in the world rankings, currently ranked 53rd.
"I Will Never Give Up"
Since 1988, China has dominated the discipline, winning 32 of the 37 gold medals and 60 of the 115 overall medals. Ni Xia Lian's next opponent in the Olympics in Paris is also Chinese. Next, the Luxembourgish player will face the current world number one, Sun Yingsha, who is just 23 years old - almost four decades younger than Ni Xia Lian. "I had some bad luck with the draw," Ni Xia Lian told the Welt. "It's almost impossible to win against her. But I will never give up." Ni Xia Lian will rely on her experience in the match on Tuesday evening (8 pm/Eurosport, ZDF, and live ticker on ntv.de).
She is left-handed and uses a penholder grip. "She has an unorthodox style," said Eurosport commentator Steffen Fetzner to the "Welt". Ni Xia Lian rotates her racket during play. Additionally, her racket has short pimples on one side and long pimples on the other, making her difficult to predict for her opponents. "That's particularly unpleasant for young players," said Fetzner. "Sometimes they can't handle it at all."
Together with her husband, Swedish table tennis coach Tommy Danielsson, she trained in their basement at home. "Three years ago, after Tokyo, I thought I could retire. But the Luxembourg federation wanted me to continue, so I trained and qualified again," she told Reuters. Her next goal is to win another match, she said.
Reunion with Old Teammates
Many consider Ni Xia Lian one of the greatest table tennis players of all time, including Zhiying Zeng. In 1983, Zeng was a teammate of Ni Xia Lian on the Chinese table tennis team. They will face each other again in Paris, over 40 years later: Zeng and Ni Xia Lian will play in Sud Paris Arena 4, but neither represents their birth country, China. Like her idol, Zeng has a new national team, playing for Chile.
Zeng retired from professional table tennis in the 1980s and moved to Chile in 1989. Now 58, she works as an office clerk. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she picked up a racket again after decades. Within months, she found her muscle memory returning, and the Olympics seemed like a distant dream. But Ni Xia Lian inspired her: "If she can play, I can improve my physical fitness and play too. She's an inspiration to me," Zeng told Reuters.
Like Ni Xia Lian, Zeng qualified for the Olympics. Both attribute their success to their training in China. At 58, Zeng competed in her first Olympics for Chile against 46-year-old Lebanese player Mariana Sahakian. In a close match with many long rallies, Zeng lost 1-4. Despite her early exit, Zeng isn't ready to retire from table tennis and plans to continue competing internationally.
Ni Xia Lian is the oldest athlete in her discipline. The oldest participant at the Paris Olympics is Mary Hanna. The 69-year-old is a member of the Australian dressage team. If Ni Xia Lian wins gold, she would be the oldest Olympic champion ever.
Ni Xia Lian's impressive table tennis career extends beyond Luxembourg, as she also represented China in international competitions. she made history at the World Championships in Tokyo in 1983, where she won gold with the Chinese team and also claimed the mixed title with Guo Yuehua.
Despite France being Ni Xia Lian's current home, she has strong connections with another European country, Germany, where she played in the 2. Bundesliga for a short time before moving to Luxembourg.
