Where She Fits

Her game carried a hardness rarely seen in Chinese women’s table tennis — overpowering opponents head-on with power and spin rather than outmaneuvering them.

Playing Style

  • Two-sided inverted loop play with excellent power and spin on a single stroke
  • High-quality forehand attacks that kept her dominant even in mid-to-far-distance rallies
  • Serve and receive built to feed straight into her attack — a very aggressive first three strokes

Career and Key Moments

She won the 2008 World Cup women’s singles title. At the 2012 London Olympics she took the women’s singles gold and helped China win the team event. At the 2013 World Championships in Paris she topped the women’s singles podium, completing the Grand Slam. At the 2016 Rio Olympics she won team gold with China and took silver in the singles final against Ding Ning, then stepped away from competition.

What She Left Behind

She represented a shift in the technical direction of Chinese women’s table tennis: when opponents got faster, she answered by reclaiming control with quality and power.

Remember this: when everyone else is racing to be faster, daring to be heavier is also a solution.