In a sentence

Fans called her “the Big Devil”, because in her peak years matches were often over before her opponent found an answer.

Playing style

  • Two-winged inverted-rubber loops, switching between attack and defence with almost no bridging shot
  • Elite at turning defence into attack; passive balls often became points outright
  • Precise placement, able to pin opponents in the most uncomfortable spots

Career and key moments

She won Olympic women’s singles gold in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008; she topped the World Championships women’s singles in Shanghai in 2005 and Yokohama in 2009, and won the World Cup several times — making her the only woman to date to complete a double Grand Slam. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics she also won the women’s team title. In 2009, at her peak, she chose to retire.

What she left the game

Her way of playing shaped the direction of Chinese women’s table tennis afterwards: not the pursuit of one brutally violent shot, but of every ball on the right choice.

In a sentence: What leaves an opponent helpless is never the fiercest shot, but every shot being right.