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Top 10 Amazing Facts about Deng Yaping

Yaping and her team- Author; Unknown- Wikimedia

Born on February 6th, 1973, Deng Yaping is a Chinese  player, who won eighteen world championships including four  championships between 1989 and 1997. She is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.

1. Deng Yaping playing at the age of five

Photo by Carlos Magno on Unsplash

Deng began playing table tennis at age of five, and four years later, she won the provincial junior championship.

She was only age 13 when she won her first national championship.

2. She was initially denied a spot because of her height

Image by Azmi Talib from Pixabay

Despite her success, she was initially denied a spot on the national team because she was so short (she stood only at 4 feet 11 inche tall).

She was finally included on the national team in 1988. She teamed with  to win her first world championship title in the women’s doubles competition in 1989. Two years later in 1991, Deng won her first singles world championship.

3. Yaping won a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics

gold medal art- Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

At the  in Barcelona, Spain, she won a gold medal in both the singles and doubles competitions and repeated the feat at the  in Atlanta, USA.

She also earned singles and doubles titles at the 1995 and 1997 world championships.

4. She has continued to win more titles even after her retirement

Image by donations welcome from Pixabay

When Yaping retired at the age of 24, she had won more titles than any other player in this sport, including four Olympic gold medals, and had been World Champion 18 times already.

From 1990 to 1997, she retained the title of world No. 1 ranked female table tennis player for 8 years.

She was voted Chinese female athlete of the century, and joined the   in 2003.

After retiring at the end of the 1997 season, Deng served on the International Olympic Committee’s ethics and athletes commissions. 

5. Deng was a colour commentator for the 2020’s Women’s World Cup

Women’s table tennis World Cup- Author; Yong Chee Meng- Wikimedia

Deng is still deeply involved with the national Chinese table tennis scene and frequently speaks to the media.

She  was a color-commentator for the Women’s World Cup in 2020 and in June 2021, she  claimed that was not a serious threat to the Chinese women’s Olympic hopes.

6. She is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference

Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPCC)- Author; CPCC- Wikimedia

She is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPCC).

This is a political advisory body in the People’s Republic of China and a central part of the ‘s  system.

This body traditionally consists of delegates from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), its allied ,  subservient to the CCP, and nominally independent members.

7. She is also a member of the Laureus World Sports Academy

Laureus- Author; Presidential Press and Information Office- Wikimedia

She is also a member of the elite This is a unique group of sporting legends, each of whom reached the very highest level of achievement and collectively created many of sport’s most iconic moments.

8. Deng Yaping has a PhD in Land Economy

PhD Graduation Gown- Author; Vpisubbva- Wikimedia

Yaping  gained a bachelor’s degree from , an  degree in Contemporary Chinese Studies from the  in 2002, and a PhD degree in Land Economy from the  () in 2008.

Her thesis title is: “Olympic branding and global competition: the case of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games”.

Further, her research work coincides with her professional focus on the marketing, management and development of the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a member of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.

9. Was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters

In 2013, she was awarded an honorary DLitt from the .

Fully known as Doctor of Letters, this  is a  in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the  (Sc.D. or D.Sc.).

It is awarded in many countries by universities and learned bodies in recognition of superior accomplishment in the humanities, original contributions to the creative or cultural arts, or scholarship and other merits degree.

10. She has accumulated so many awards in her career

Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

Throughout her career, Deng Yaping has managed to accumulate a number of awards. These include:

40th World Table Tennis Championship (1989) Women’s Double Gold.

1st Table Tennis World Cup (1990) Women’s Team Gold.

41st World Table Tennis Championship (1991) Women’s Single Gold, Women’s Double Gold.

2nd Table Tennis World Cup (1991-1992) Women’s Team Gold, Women’s Double Gold.

25th Olympic Games (1992) Table Tennis Women’s Single Gold, Women’s Double Gold.

42nd World Table Tennis Championship (1993) Women’s Team Gold, Women’s Double Silver.

43rd World Table Tennis Championship (1995) Women’s Team Gold, Women’s Single Gold, Women’s Double Gold, Mixed Double Silver.

4th Table Tennis World Cup (1995) Women’s Team Gold

26th Olympic Games (1996) Table Tennis Women’s Single Gold, Women’s Double Gold.

44th World Table Tennis Championship (1997) Women’s Team Gold, Women’s Single Gold, Women’s Double Gold, Mixed Double Silver.