Where to Start in Stories: Seven Nights Worth Telling on Their Own
This section is about people, not eras. A guide to what each of the seven stories covers — and which one to read first.
Stories
One night in Beijing in 1961, a bus that was not supposed to be there in 1971, one point in Shanghai in 2005, a sixth Olympics at sixty-one — the people and nights that deserve a piece of their own.
9 posts in this section
Rejected by Everyone at 1.55 Meters: How Deng Yaping Won an Entire Era
Sent back by the provincial team at 10, debated three times before the national team said yes, believed in by nobody but Zhang Xielin. She went on to win 18 world titles and hold the world No. 1 spot for eight straight years. Deng Yaping's story isn't an underdog fairy tale — it's a surgical translation of disadvantage into a playing style.
From 'A Knot in My Heart for Years' to the St. Bride Vase: Wang Chuqin's Night in Doha
In the 2025 Doha World Championships men's singles final, Wang Chuqin beat Brazil's Hugo 4:1 to win his first world singles title. Afterwards he said it felt like a knot in his heart, tied years ago, had finally come undone. A coronation — and a breakthrough for South American table tennis.
One Man Against an Era: Jan-Ove Waldner and Forty Years of Chinese Table Tennis
From Cai Zhenhua to Ma Long, he traded blows with six generations of Chinese players over forty years. The first Grand Slam winner in table tennis history — and the opponent the Chinese respect most. The story of Lao Wa.
Six Olympics at 61: Why Ni Xialian Brought the Whole Arena to Its Feet
From 16 to 61, she stood on an Olympic court for the sixth time and became the oldest winner in Olympic table tennis history. After losing to Sun Yingsha, the whole arena stood and applauded — Ni Xialian's story is about how long love for a sport can last.
The Day He Boarded the Wrong Bus: How Ping-Pong Diplomacy Began in 1971
At the 1971 Nagoya World Championships, an American player boarded the wrong team bus, and a Chinese player handed him a Hangzhou brocade. That accidental moment became known as 'the little ball that moved the big ball.'
The Match Isn't Lost Until the Scoreboard Stops: Three Comebacks That Changed Chinese Table Tennis
Dominant wins earn applause, but what stays in memory are the nights when someone was driven to the cliff's edge and clawed the score back point by point. Three classic comebacks that changed the fortunes of Chinese table tennis — and what they share.
The Point He Could Have Kept Quiet About: Shanghai 2005, Timo Boll's Lesson to the World
At the 2005 World Championships in Shanghai, an edge ball nobody noticed on match point — Timo Boll raised his hand, and then lost the match. Fair play left me no choice, he said. One of the most famous moments in table tennis history.
Twelve Smashes: The Night in 1961 When China First Lifted the Swaythling Cup
Men's team final, 1961 Beijing World Championships: Xu Yinsheng hammered twelve straight smashes past a Japanese star, Rong Guotuan shouted 'how many chances does a lifetime give you to fight' — and that night, China lifted the Swaythling Cup for the first time. The story of the national game truly starts here.