Liu Jia (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

: 刘佳; born 16 February 1982 in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China) is a Chinese-born Austrian left-handed

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player.

Early life

From 1992 to 1995, Liu attended Shichahai Sporting High School in Beijing. Afterward she became a member of professional club Shian Nuntan, where she played with

Zhang Yining Zhang Yining (; born 5 October 1981) is a Chinese table tennis player who retired in 2009. She is considered one of the greatest female players in the sport's history. In terms of achievements, she is one of the most successful female table tenn ...

. Despite Liu's successes as a Cadet and Junior, competition within the Chinese team was strong and prospects for a future international career were dim. Instead of following a call to Japan, Liu travelled to Austria when the opportunity arose to play for Austrian team Linz AG Froschberg. She arrived in March 1997 without speaking either German or English, but quickly learned German within the year that she settled in Austria. She won the first International Austrian Youth Championships soon after her arrival. On 16 February 1998, her 16th birthday, she became an Austrian citizen and a member of the Austrian

squad. Husband David Arvidsson is an international Danish table tennis player.

Career

Liu continued her success on youth level by taking Gold in the Singles, Doubles and Mixed competition at the 1998 European Youth Championships in

Norcia Norcia (), traditionally known in English by its Latin name of Nursia (), is a town and comune in the province of Perugia (Italy) in southeastern Umbria. Unlike many ancient towns, it is located in a wide plain abutting the Monti Sibillini, a su ...

. In 1999, she again claimed the singles and mixed titles in Frydek-Mistek. She competed at the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, the 2004 Olympics in Athens and the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

, reaching the third round of the singles competition in each of them. She also competed in the team competition in Beijing. In May 2011, she qualified for her fourth Olympic attendance in the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

where she was knocked out in the third round. She competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in Rio de Janeiro. She was defeated in the fourth round by

Feng Tianwei Feng Tianwei (, ) is a Singaporean table tennis player. Born in Harbin, China, she permanently moved to Singapore at the age of 20 under the former Foreign Sports Talent Scheme in March 2007 and commenced her international career in competit ...

of Singapore. She also competed in the women's team event, but the Austrian team was defeated by Japan in the quarterfinals. Liu was the flag bearer for Austria during the

Parade of Nations The Olympic Games ceremonies of the Ancient Olympic Games were an integral part of these Games; the modern Olympic games have opening, closing, and medal ceremonies. Some of the elements of the modern ceremonies date back to the Ancient Games from ...

. In the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, Liu defeated 12-year-old Syrian

Hend Zaza Hend Zaza ( ar, هند ظاظا; born 1 January 2009) is a Syrian table tennis player. She qualified to play in the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021 in Tokyo, through the West Asia Olympic qualifying tournament held in Jordan in 2020. At the age of ...

in the preliminary round of the Women's Singles, with a score of 11:4, 11:9, 11:3, 11:5. Zaza was the youngest competitor in the games, the youngest table tennis player to compete in any Olympics, and the first Syrian table tennis player to qualify for the Olympics. In the first round Liu defeated Ukrainian

Hanna Haponova Hanna Haponova (in statistics also Ganna Gaponova, uk, Ганна Гапонова; born 28 October 1985) is a Ukrainian table tennis player who has competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics where she was relegated in the Round 1 by Austrian Liu Jia ...

Results

European Championships

*European Champion Women's Singles: 2005 Aarhus *Silver medal Women's Singles: 2008 St Petersburg *Silver medal Women's Singles: 2010 Ostrava *Bronze medal Mixed: 2005 Aarhus (with

Werner Schlager Werner Schlager (born September 28, 1972 in Wiener Neustadt, Austria) is a table tennis player and former world champion from Austria. Career Schlager began playing table tennis when he was six years old, learning from his father, Rudolph Schl ...

) *Bronze medal Mixed: 2002 Zagreb (with Werner Schlager)

World Championships

*Quarterfinals Women's Singles and Doubles: 2001 Osaka *6th place Women's Team: 2008 Guangzhou

Pro Tour

*Winner 2012 Czech Open: Women's Singles *Winner 2008 German Open: Women's Singles *Winner 2004 Brazil Open: Women's Singles *Winner 2004 US Open: Women's Doubles *Runner-up 2006 Polish Open: Women's Singles and Doubles *Runner-up 2004 Egypt Open: Women's Singles *Runner-up 2004 Croatia Open: Women's Singles *Runner-up 2003 Korea Open: Women's Singles *Runner-up 2001 Brazil Open: Women's Singles *Runner-up 2001 Croatia Open: Women's Doubles *Runner-up 1999 Czech Open: Women's Doubles *Runner-up 1999 Australian Open: Women's Doubles *Runner-up 1999 Qatar Open: Women's Doubles ITTF Statistics – Liu Jia (Retrieved 1 November 2011).

References

External links