In a sentence

He was one of the last two rulers of penhold fast attack in men’s singles, and China’s answer against the European loop.

Playing style

  • A ferocious forehand loop, the strongest scoring weapon across the whole table
  • Wide footwork coverage, willing to dive for a ball and turn it straight into an attack
  • A penhold backhand block that wins on line changes and rhythm rather than trading power

Career and key moments

He won the 1984 World Cup men’s singles, then topped men’s singles at back-to-back World Championships in Gothenburg 1985 and New Delhi 1987, beating Sweden’s Jan-Ove Waldner in the 1987 final. In those years the European loop was rising across the board, and he held the line head-on with penhold fast attack, the backbone of Chinese men’s table tennis of that era.

What he left the game

He represents the limit that penhold fast attack can reach. Afterward the Chinese team gradually shifted to shakehand two-winged loop, which made Jiang Jialiang’s game a model that keeps being rewatched.

In a sentence: Whether a style disappears depends on whether anyone ever pushed it to its limit.