Wang Tao (; born December 13, 1967 in Beijing) is a retired Chinese table tennis player, the current head coach of the

Bayi Gongshang Bayi may refer to these articles: Chinese *Bāyī (八一, lit. ''eight-one'', which means "August 1"), refers to the anniversary of the Nanchang Uprising, which is considered as the founding of the People's Liberation Army, and thus a common name ...

club in the China Table Tennis Super League, and a member of the Chinese Olympic Committee. Wang Tao is a left-handed player who utilizes the shakehand grip, known for using short pimpled rubber on his backhand and regular inverted rubber on his forehand. Due to the special characteristics of short pimpled rubber being able to hit through and resist spin, Wang Tao's play style is unique, as he was able to rely on the quick hitting motion on his backhand to directly attack serves with heavy spin or make controlled shots at wide angles against his opponents. Wang Tao positions himself close to the table, attacking with great speed and surprising his opponents with unexpected shots. Wang Tao was an influential figure, making great contributions to the revival of Chinese dominance in the sport of table tennis in a time when European countries like Sweden and Austria dominated the world stage (winning the men's team event during the 1995 table tennis world championships). Wang Tao was mentioned in season 4, episode 8 of the American television series The Office. In the episode, entitled " The Deposition", the character

Dwight Schrute Dwight Kurt Schrute III () is a fictional character on ''The Office (U.S.)'' and is portrayed by American actor Rainn Wilson. Dwight's character was a salesman and the assistant to the regional manager, at the fictional paper distribution compan ...

mentions Wang Tao as one of his table tennis heroes.

External links

Chinese Olympic Committee profileITTF profile
1967 births Living people Chinese male table tennis players Olympic table tennis players for China Table tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for China Olympic medalists in table tennis Asian Games medalists in table tennis Table tennis players from Beijing Table tennis players at the 1994 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games bronze medalists for China Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games {{PRChina-tabletennis-bio-stub Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for China