In a sentence

He was the kind of player who could bring back balls that seemed unrecoverable — and that earned him a title not quite like an athlete’s: the Artist.

Playing style

  • Left-handed penhold with a reverse backhand, his mid- and long-distance rallying unmatched in his era
  • Superb touch and body coordination, able to counterattack right after an impossible save
  • Extremely adaptable in doubles, able to produce results with partners of very different styles

Career and key moments

He won men’s singles at the 2013 World Cup, and at the 2015 Suzhou World Championships he and South Korea’s Yang Ha-eun won mixed doubles — a pairing with real symbolic weight. He helped the team to the men’s team title at both the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics he and Liu Shiwen took mixed doubles silver. For years he was the most dependable option in doubles and mixed doubles.

What he left the game

He made watchability part of table tennis again. In an era that prizes efficiency, Xu Xin showed that imagination is itself a competitive asset.

In a sentence: Some shots look like they are played to win, but they are also keeping the audience in the sport.