Wilson Zhang (also Zhang Peng, ; born 23 September 1979 in

Anda, Heilongjiang Anda () is a county-level city in western Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, located on the Harbin-Manzhouli Railway (formerly known as the Chinese Eastern Railway) about southeast of Daqing and northwest of Harbin, capital of He ...

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

) is a Canadian table tennis player of Chinese origin. As of January 2010, Zhang is ranked no. 140 in the world by the

International Table Tennis Federation The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the governing body for all national 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 p ...

(ITTF). He is right-handed, and uses the shakehand grip. In 2003, Zhang moved with his family to

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a coastal city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. It occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough), between the two estuarine distributaries of the Fraser River. Encompassing the ad ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, where he worked as a full-time table tennis coach at the Bridgeport Sports Club. He also met and married a Canadian and now has two children, and finally resided to

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, where he obtained a citizenship four years later, and eventually trained for the National Table Tennis Centre under his personal and head coach Marles Martins. Zhang also reigned as Canadian table tennis champion for three straight years (2005–2007), finished second at the 2007 U.S. Open in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, and most significantly, attained the championship title at the North American Tour finals. Zhang earned a spot on the Canadian team for the

2008 Summer 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 Na ...

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 ...

, by placing second over his teammate

Pradeeban Peter-Paul Pradeeban Peter-Paul (born May 17, 1977) is a Tamil Canadian table tennis player. Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Pradeeban Peter-Paul emigrated with his family to Germany at the age of 11. It was in Würzburg, Germany that Peter-Paul learned table ...

in the men's singles from the North American Qualification Tournament in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. Zhang joined with his fellow players Peter-Paul and Qiang Zhen for the inaugural men's team event. His team placed fourth in the preliminary pool round, against Germany, Croatia, and Singapore, receiving a total of three points and three straight losses. In the men's singles, Zhang defeated Trinidad and Tobago's Dexter St. Louis in the preliminary round, before losing his next match to Japan's

Seiya Kishikawa is a male Japanese table tennis player. He paired with Jun Mizutani in men's doubles competitions, the duo won four consecutive national titles from 2007 to 2010. They also won a bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships and two titles at th ...

, attaining a set score of 2–4.

References

External links

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Profile – Canadian Olympic Team

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Wilson 1979 births Living people Canadian male table tennis players Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic table tennis players for Canada Chinese emigrants to Canada Canadian sportspeople of Chinese descent Table tennis players from Heilongjiang Sportspeople from Ottawa People from Anda Naturalised table tennis players