Zhiying "Tania"[1] Zeng (born 17 July[1] 1966;[2][3] Cantonese Yale: dzāng jī wihng) is a Chinese-Chilean table tennis player[4] who qualified to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Zeng was part of the Chinese team prior to moving to Chile. Zeng had a long break and returned to table tennis as a competitor during the COVID-19 pandemic. She qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics and represented Chile in the sport,[5] but lost in the preliminary round and did not advance.
 Zeng in 2023 | |||||||||||||||
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| Born | 17 July 1966 Foshan, China | ||||||||||||||
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| Country | Chile | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Table tennis | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Biography
editZeng was born in Guangzhou.[6][clarify] Her mother was a table tennis coach and Zeng was raised near a sports complex with access to professional players.[6] She was trained by her mother until the age of 9, and then joined an elite sports academy at age 11.[6] She is a friend with her former Chinese team teammate Ni Xialian, a Shanghai-born Luxembourgish table tennis player, whom she reconnected with at the 2024 Summer Olympics.[5]
By the time she became a professional player at age 12, she had already won a national junior championship. Zeng first made the Chinese table tennis team at age 16. According to Zeng, a 1986 rule change requiring the two sides of the table tennis racket to be different colors hurt her play, since she liked to confuse her opponents by frequently swapping sides during play. Zeng's playing style was now more predictable and she fell out of the Chinese national team's ranks.[6]
In 1989, Zeng took up an invitation to go to Chile and become a table tennis coach for schoolchildren in Arica. In 2003, Zeng began playing again as part of an effort to encourage her son to take up the sport. She won national-level tournaments in 2004 and 2005, when she stopped once her son was old enough to travel to competitions on his own.[6]
Zeng had a long break and returned to table tennis as a competitor during the COVID-19 pandemic. She first competed in regional tournaments in Iquique, before qualifying for the women's team for the 2023 South American Table Tennis Championships. There, she won the women's team tournament, and won silvers in the women's singles and doubles. Zeng subsequently played at the 2023 Pan American Games, winning a bronze in the Women's team event alongside Daniela Ortega and Paulina Vega. Her performance, including a four-set comeback in the first round of the singles event, lead to her becoming a media sensation in Chile, with even Chilean president Gabriel Boric sending her congratulations on social media.[4][6]
She qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics,[5] but lost in the preliminary round and did not advance.
Personal life
editShe lives in Iquique, Chile where she owns a furniture business. She is married and has two children.[4][6] She speaks Spanish fluently.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b "¿Quién es Tania Zeng? la chilena con raíces orientales que se luce en tenis de mesa". 24horas.cl. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
- ^ "Zhiying Zeng". Olympic Games. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ Kuzma, Cindy (27 July 2024). "Table Tennis Player Zhiying Zeng Just Made Her Olympic Debut at 58 Years Old". Self. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d Savarese, Mauricio (31 October 2023). "57-year-old Chinese-Chilean table tennis player wins over crowd at Pan American Games". AP News. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ a b c Hu, Krystal (27 July 2024). "58-year-old Zeng Zhiying exits Olympics but not table tennis". Reuters. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Grez, Matias (26 July 2024). "'I made it': 38 years after calling time on her Olympic dream in China, this 'table tennis grandma' will represent Chile at Paris 2024". CNN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
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