In a sentence

Her signature is a serve few can copy, and her foundation is the kind of grit that refuses to give in no matter how the match is going.

Playing style

  • Left-handed shakehand; the squat chop serve produces huge spin differences and is a key scoring weapon
  • Two-winged inverted-rubber loop, steady in transition and patient in mid-distance rallies
  • Tremendous match will, still executing in long games and from behind

Career and key moments

In 2011 she won women’s singles at the Rotterdam World Championships and topped the women’s singles at that year’s World Cup. At the Rio 2016 Olympics she took women’s singles gold and the women’s team title with China, becoming a Grand Slam winner. At the London 2012 Olympics she was women’s singles runner-up. After the Tokyo 2021 Olympics she gradually stepped back from international play and moved toward study and sports administration.

What she left the game

She pushed the squat chop serve to world-class level, and turned “grit” into a tradition in Chinese women’s table tennis.

In a sentence: You can practice a signature shot, but that last breath that carries you to the final point cannot be trained.