Paris Olympics: from youth to ‘aunties’, Chinese diaspora features strongly in table tennis
- More than 10 countries in Paris have players either born in China or are of Chinese descent, including two with a Chinese ‘auntie’ each
China has had such a stranglehold on table tennis for decades that other countries, in an attempt to get their foot in the door, have been scouring the country’s diaspora to bolster their delegations and boost their chances at Olympic gold.
At this year’s Paris Olympics, Germany, Australia, Canada, France, the United States, Slovakia, Fiji, South Korea, Monaco, Portugal and even Hong Kong have taken players either born on the mainland or are of Chinese descent.
Luxembourg and Chile both went a step further by taking two Chinese “aunties” to this year’s Games.
Ni Xialian, 61, won the hearts of table tennis fans when she played against world No 1, China’s Sun Yingsha, on Wednesday.
At 61, Ni was one of the oldest athletes competing in what is her sixth Olympics, representing Luxembourg, to which she moved in the late 1980s after winning two world championship gold medals for China.