Zhang Xueling (; born 7 May 1983 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 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 Chinese-born

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

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. Zhang started playing table tennis at the age of 6 and made her first International appearance in 1999. She won four gold medals at the

2005 Southeast Asian Games The 2005 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 23rd Southeast Asian Games, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Manila, Philippines. This was the third time the Philippines hosted the games and its first time since 1991 S ...

, helping Singapore to sweep the women events as well as the mixed doubles. Zhang has defeated her higher-ranked fellow Singaporean, Li Jiawei, 3 times to date: once at the

in the women's singles finals; another at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

in the mixed doubles finals partnered by Cai Xiaoli against Li and her teammate, Yang Zi; and in the women's singles finals in the same Games, winning four out of five gold medals for the country. In the Athens Olympics 2004, she went to the Games with no other target than to perform at her best. Zhang Xueling played her game and surprised the nation when she defeated 14th seed, Korea's Lee Eun Sil and Japan's Ai Fujinuma, to secure a position in the quarter-finals, before losing to Korea's Kim Hyang Mi. However, Zhang has resigned in February, and has returned to Shanghai to join her husband,

Zheng Qi Zheng Qi (; died 899), courtesy name Yunwu (蘊武), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, serving briefly as chancellor in 894 during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong. He was known for writing poems filled with puns ('' xiehouyu'') that s ...

. Zheng Qi was the Ex-Assistant Table Tennis Coach for the Singapore's Men's Team. Zhang's departure was due to

Wang Yuegu Wang Yuegu (, ; born 10 June 1980) is a retired Chinese-born Singaporean table tennis player who was ranked among the top ten players in the world. Wang made her inaugural appearance as a Singaporean table tennis player on the International Tab ...

, another Chinese-born Table Tennis Player, who has just received her Singaporean citizenship in February 2007.

Achievements

*1998 **Golden Racket (VIE) ***Gold - Women's Doubles *2001 **21st SEA Games ***Gold - Women's Team *2002 **17th Commonwealth Games ***Gold - Women's Team ***Bronze - Women's Doubles **South East Asian Championships 2002 ***Gold - Women's Team ***Gold Women's Singles ***Silver - Mixed Doubles **14th Asian Games ***Bronze - Women's Team *2003 **Southeast Asian Games ***Silver - Women's Doubles (partner: Tan Paey Fern) ***Gold - Women's Team ***Silver - Women's Singles **Asian Championships ***Bronze - Women's Team *2004 **Olympic Games ***Top 8 - Women's Singles **South East Asian Championships ***Gold - Women's Team ***Silver - Women's Doubles (partner: Tan Paey Fern) *2005 **

ITTF Pro Tour The ITTF World Tour, known as the ITTF Pro Tour until 2011, is an annual series of table tennis tournaments introduced by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) in 1996. The tour includes events in seven categories: Men's and Women's Single ...

Korea Open ***Gold - Women's Doubles (partner: Tan Paey Fern) **ITTF Pro Tour China Open ***Silver - Women's Doubles (partner: Tan Paey Fern) **Singapore Sports Meritorious Senior Award **SEA Games ***Gold - Women's Team ***Gold - Women's Singles ***Gold - Women's Doubles (partner: Li Jia Wei) ***Gold - Mixed Doubles (partner: Yang Zi) *2006 **18th Commonwealth Games ***Gold - Women's Team ***Gold - Women's Singles ***Gold - Women's Doubles (partner: Li Jia Wei) ***Gold - Mixed Doubles (partner: Yang Zi) **South East Asian Championships 2006 ***Gold - Women's Team ***Gold - Women's Singles ***Gold - Women's Doubles (partner: Tan Paey Fern) ***Gold - Mixed Doubles (partner: Yang Zi) **15th Asian Games ***Silver - Women's Team

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Xueling 1983 births Living people Table tennis players from Beijing Chinese emigrants to Singapore Singaporean sportspeople of Chinese descent Naturalised citizens of Singapore Naturalised table tennis players Chinese female table tennis players Singaporean female table tennis players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Singapore Table tennis players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Olympic table tennis players for Singapore Table tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in table tennis Table tennis players at the 2002 Asian Games Table tennis players at the 2006 Asian Games Commonwealth Games medallists in table tennis Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for Singapore Asian Games bronze medalists for Singapore SEA Games medalists in table tennis SEA Games gold medalists for Singapore SEA Games silver medalists for Singapore Competitors at the 2001 SEA Games Competitors at the 2003 SEA Games Competitors at the 2005 SEA Games Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games