After the singapore Grand Slam tournament, the International Table Tennis Federation also announced the latest world rankings, in the women's doubles, the Chinese combination Wang Manyu / Sun Yingsha topped the list, the Japanese combination of Ito Mimachi / Hayata Hina ranked second, the 3rd place is surprising, it is the Chinese famous Ni Xialian and partner Nat. You know, Ni Xialian is 59 years old, 13 years older than Liu Guoliang, but her state has remained so outstanding, even she herself is a little incredulous, bluntly saying that she feels that she has become younger.
Born in 1963 and from Shanghai, Ni Xialian began professional training at the age of 13 and is supposed to enter the table tennis world relatively late. However, Ni Xialian has good talent, coupled with hard work, and was successfully selected for the Shanghai team after 2 years. In 1979, the 16-year-old Ni Xialian was called up to the national team and was also a talented table tennis player who improved rapidly. Since then, Ni Xialian has gradually grown into the main force of Chinese women's table tennis, participated in many world competitions, and the names of Chinese table tennis, such as Cai Zhenhua, Guo Yuehua, Cao Yanhua and others, have all been her teammates.
Ni Xialian first won the World Series championship in the 1983 World Table Tennis Championships, when she and Guo Yuehua won the mixed doubles championship, and two years later, in the World Table Tennis Championships, Ni Xialian and Cao Yanhua won the silver medal in women's doubles. However, in the mid-to-late 1980s, with the rise of a new generation of athletes, Ni Xialian lost her main position. After losing the 1988 Olympic squad, Ni Xialian was very disappointed, and in order to continue her dream of table tennis, she left China and went to Europe to work. After several turns, Ni Xialian settled in Luxembourg and married her coach Danielson.
Although Ni Xialian's strength in the domestic table tennis arena is not very strong, she can still hang most of her opponents in the European arena. Within a few years, Ni Xialian had played all over Europe, giving her the opportunity to represent Luxembourg in the World Series. In 2000, Ni Xialian finally realized her dream of the Olympic Games at the age of 37 and successfully broke into the women's singles round of 16, with very good results. Since then, in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, Ni Xialian has successfully participated, although the results have not made much breakthrough, but as she grows older, she is already enjoying the sport, and the honor is not so important.
Last summer, the 58-year-old Ni Xialian participated in the Olympic Games as the standard-bearer of the Luxembourg team, and in the first round of the women's singles, she fought with South Korean teenager Shin Yubin for 1 hour, losing 3:4, considering that the opponent is more than 30 years younger than her, Ni Xialian's performance has been very good. At the World Table Tennis Championships at the end of last year, Ni Xialian and her partner Nat won the bronze medal in women's doubles, proving what is called "Lao Ji Fu Feng". Ni Xialian is not only the national treasure of the Luxembourg team, but also a model for table tennis players around the world, hoping that she will continue to persevere and strive to appear in the Paris Olympic Games.