In a sentence

He turned the penhold backhand from a weak spot into a primary weapon — at the cost of carrying one of the rarest regrets in sporting history.

Playing style

  • His reverse backhand covered the whole table; the backhand could launch high-quality attacks and hold its own in rallies
  • He set the modern template for the backhand flick and the backhand-to-backhand exchange
  • Smooth transitions between forehand and backhand, still competitive after dropping back from the table

Career and key moments

In 2004 in Athens, 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London he reached the Olympic men’s singles final three times and won silver each time — a record unique in the sport. He won men’s singles at the 2009 Yokohama World Championships and took the men’s singles World Cup three times, and in 2012 helped the team to the Olympic men’s team title. After retiring he moved into coaching and helped build the men’s team’s technical system.

What he left the game

Only with him did the penhold reverse backhand become a complete system. When Europe’s Félix Lebrun later stormed the top of the world with a penhold game, the technical lineage ran back along the same path.

In a sentence: Three silver medals redirected an entire technique — a more concrete effect than many golds.