Zhang Jike

Zhang Jike
Personal information
Native name 张继科
Nationality  China
Born (1988-02-16) February 16, 1988[1]
Qingdao, Shandong, China
Playing style Right-handed, shakehand grip
Highest ranking 1 (June to December 2012)[2]
Current ranking 4 (October 2016)
Club Shandong Luneng
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[3]
Weight 73 kg (161 lb)[3]
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Zhang.

Zhang Jike (simplified Chinese: 张继科; traditional Chinese: 張繼科; pinyin: Zhāng Jìkē; born 16 February 1988) is a Chinese table tennis player.[1][4] As of August 2016, he is the number four player in the world.

When Zhang won the Olympic gold medal in singles,[5] he became the fourth male player in the history of table tennis to achieve a career Grand Slam (though with Ma's win over Zhang at Rio in 2016, there are now five players who have accomplished the feat). The others are Jan-Ove Waldner (in 1992), Liu Guoliang (in 1999), Kong Linghui (in 2000), and most recently, Ma Long (in 2016).[6] Zhang is one of two of those five (the other being Ma) who have been the reigning champion in all three competitions simultaneously. As he won consecutively first in WTTC 2011, then World Cup 2011, and then London Olympics 2012, he won the grand slam only 445 days after his first major title, being the fastest player ever to do so.

Early life

On Feb 16, 1988, Zhang was born in Qingdao, Shandong Province to Zhang Chuanming (张传铭) and Xu Xiying (徐锡英). His father is a table-tennis coach. He was named after the Brazilian soccer player Zico.[7]

According to his father, Zhang's first time of playing table-tennis was on March 5 1992, at age of 4.[8]

Equipment and playing style

Zhang Jike is a Butterfly sponsored athlete. He uses Butterfly Viscaria for his blade, a Butterfly Tenergy 64 (red) on his backhand, and DHS Hurricane 3 neo National blue sponge (black) on his forehand.

Zhang Jike is a two-winged shakehand attacker, using a combination of quick topspin drive attacks, counters, and loops. He is primarily a speed-oriented player, using the harder blue sponge H3 for maximum drive. He stays very low to the ground and is exceptionally quick on his feet. He uses a backhand favored grip and does not change his grip for forehand shots. Among all the Chinese National team players, he is known for having the best backhand technique, often using it in the forehand corner, especially when returning heavy under-spin serves and pushes. His backhand on-the-table flick is widely regarded as one of the best in the world.

Zhang's serves are unpredictable and quite deceptive. His most famous serve is probably the reverse-pendulum short serve into both corners of the table. The side-spin on the serve, together with his deadly backhand flicks, lightning footwork and top-class anticipation has proven to be a frightening combination as he "opens up" top spin rallies to his advantage.

It is noticeable that he would play with a backhand oriented game plan against big forehand loopers like Ma Long or Fan Zhendong. He would keep his opponents in their backhand corner and go for down-the-line blocking winners as the opposition steps around to use a forehand loop, or just simply use his superior control to pile up pressure on the opponent, resulting in bad shot selections and unforced errors.

One of Zhang Jike's most valuable asset is his mental toughness. His ability to win big points in major competitions under pressure, has amazed audiences.

In 2014, Zhang's world ranking dropped to 5th as a result of consecutive early world tour exits and title drought. Head coach Liu Guoliang criticized him for his lack of focus and techniques development. However, Zhang managed to lead his hometown team, Shandong, to the 2014 Chinese Table Tennis Super League championship, and he won the World Cup again in October. But, he declined his prize money, $45,000 USD for winning World Cup as a fine for destroying the barriers in celebration.[9] This fund will be used to set up Fair Play Award.[10]

In 2016, Zhang Jike defeated world No. 1 ranked and current World Champion Ma Long 4-1 in the finals match of the Kuwait Open.[11]

Career records

Singles (as of May 1, 2015)[4]

Men's Doubles

Mixed Doubles

References

  1. 1 2 "ITTF player's profile". International Table Tennis Federation. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
  2. ↑ "ITTF world ranking". International Table Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on 2012-10-02. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
  3. 1 2 "Athlete's Profile". 2014 Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  4. 1 2 "ITTF Statistics". International Table Tennis Federation. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
  5. ↑ "China's Zhang wins men's table tennis gold". The Times Of India. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  6. ↑ "Sport Olympics 2012: table tennis". The Guardian. London. 2012-08-02. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  7. ↑ 国足兵败竟改张继科一生！父亲怒令别踢球换乒乓. Sina (in Chinese). 3 August 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  8. ↑ 张继科童年：昔日小不点如今大满贯 Retrieved 2016-09-06
  9. ↑ http://tabletennista.com/2014/10/zhang-jike-offered-his-prize-money-as-his-penalty/
  10. ↑ http://tabletennista.com/2014/11/zhang-jike-s-penalty-used-to-establish-best-in-conduct-award/
  11. ↑ http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/ittf_full_story1.asp?ID=43558&Competition_ID=2637&
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