In a sentence

In an era when China’s women were almost unbeatable, she was one of the few who could turn a final into a real fight.

Playing style

  • A powerful forehand loop; unafraid to trade from mid-distance with the Chinese
  • Solid footwork, keeping quality through repeated attacks
  • Great resilience, more willing to attack the more she was pressed

Career and key moments

At the 1983 Tokyo World Championships, the 37th edition, she knocked out three Chinese players — Geng Lijuan, Tong Ling and Huang Junqun, each with a different style — to reach the women’s singles final, where she lost to Cao Yanhua. In that final she was “killed off” by a run of high balls from her opponent, a famous scene in the sport’s history. At the 1986 Asian Games she and Hyun Jung-hwa helped South Korea win the women’s team title. At the 1987 New Delhi World Championships and the 1988 Seoul Olympics the pair won women’s doubles back to back — and the Seoul title was the first Olympic women’s doubles gold in table tennis history.

What she left the game

Her doubles partnership with Hyun Jung-hwa was the one problem China’s women could not solve in the late 1980s. It also showed that understanding in doubles can sometimes cover a gap in singles strength.

In a sentence: Every sport’s history needs a few rivals who force the strong to prepare seriously.