Profile of Wang Liqin

Wang Liqin (Chinese: 王励勤) (born June 18, 1978, Jiangsu, China) is a Chinese table tennis player. As of December 5, 2007, he is ranked 3rd in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

He began playing at the age of 6 and was picked for the Chinese men's national squad in 1993 when he was only 15 years old.

Style

His style is best described as a strong forehand and backhand looper. His above average height allows him additional leverage for acceleration and momentum, creating more powerful shots. He uses the shakehand style.

Awards

Wang won the gold medal in doubles at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and the bronze medal in singles at the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece. For most of 2005, he ranked as the world's best table tennis player.

Wang Liqin won his first World Championship in Osaka, Japan in 2001. In 2003, Wang made it to the quarter-finals of the World Table Tennis Championships. He has since won two more World Championships - 48th WTTC 2005 in Shanghai, China and 49th WTTC 2007 in Zagreb, HRV. Wang Liqin is ranked #3 in the world for Men's Singles, based on the ITTF World Ranking page as of September 2007(http://www.ittf.com/).

Wang and his teammates won the 2006 world table tennis team championships, beating Korea in the finals. Wang has won the highest number of pro tours, winning over 20. Wang now plays for the Shanghai city team.

He recently won the 2007 Men's Singles World Table Tennis Championship in Zagreb coming back from a 1-3 deficit to Ma Lin in a best of 7 match.

At the 2007 Pro Tour Giant Final he has won the final with Chen Qi against Wang Hao/Ma Lin.