Zhang Li (; 3 May 1951 – 13 February 2019) was a female international

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 from

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 ...

Table tennis career

From 1973 to 1979 she won ten medals in the

World Table Tennis Championships The World Table Tennis Championships are table tennis competitions sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The World Championships have been held since 1926, biennially since 1957. Five individual events, which include men ...

and several medals in the

Asian Table Tennis Championships The Asian Table Tennis Championships is a biennial table tennis tournament regarded as continental championships by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). From 1952 to 1972, the tournament was organized by the Table Tennis Federation of Asi ...

. The ten World Championship medals included four

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

s; one in the singles at the

1979 World Table Tennis Championships The 1979 World Table Tennis Championships were held in Pyongyang from April 25 to May 6, 1979. Results Team Individual References External linksITTF Museum {{World Table Tennis Championships World Table Tennis Championships World Table ...

with

Zhang Deying Zhang Deying (, born July 1, 1953) also Chang Te-ying, is a former international table tennis player from China. Table tennis career From 1977 to 1981 she won several medals in singles, doubles, and team events in the Asian Table Tennis Champion ...

and three more in the Corbillon Cup (team event) for China.

Personal life

After retiring from competition, Zhang and her husband

Li Zhenshi Li Zhenshi (), is a male Chinese table tennis player and coach. Table tennis career From 1974 to 1981, Zhenshi won several medals in singles, doubles, and team events in the Asian Table Tennis Championships and in the World Table Tennis Champi ...

moved to the US, where they directed the World Champions Table Tennis Academy in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

. She died on 13 February 2019.

References

1951 births 2019 deaths Chinese female table tennis players Asian Games medalists in table tennis Table tennis players at the 1974 Asian Games Table tennis players at the 1978 Asian Games Medalists at the 1974 Asian Games Medalists at the 1978 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China People from Xinxiang Table tennis players from Henan {{PRChina-tabletennis-bio-stub