Ni Xialian

In this Chinese name, the family name is Ni.
Xia Lian Ni
Ni in 2010
Personal information
NationalityLuxembourgish
Born (1963-07-04) 4 July 1963 (age 61)
Shanghai, China
Height1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
Weight58 kg (128 lb)
Table tennis career
Playing styleLeft-handed, penhold
Highest ranking6 (25 May 1985)[1]
Current ranking46 (Feb 2024) [2]
Medal record
Women's table tennis
Representing  Luxembourg
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Houston Doubles
European Games
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Minsk Singles
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1998 Eindhoven Singles
Gold medal – first place 2002 Zagreb Singles
Gold medal – first place 2002 Zagreb Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 2000 Bremen Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2007 Belgrade Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Alicante Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Munich Doubles
Games of the Small States of Europe
Gold medal – first place 2009 Cyprus Singles
Gold medal – first place 2009 Cyprus Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2009 Cyprus Team
Gold medal – first place 2011 Liechtenstein Singles
Gold medal – first place 2011 Liechtenstein Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2011 Liechtenstein Team
Gold medal – first place 2013 Luxembourg Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2013 Luxembourg Team
Gold medal – first place 2015 Iceland Team
Representing  China
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1983 Tokyo Team
Gold medal – first place 1983 Tokyo Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 1985 Gothenburg Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1983 Tokyo Doubles

Ni Xia Lian (Chinese: 倪夏連; born 4 July 1963) is a Chinese-born Luxembourgish table tennis player who has represented Luxembourg in international competitions since 1991. She was born in Shanghai, and resides with her husband, Tommy Danielsson, in Ettelbruck, in central Luxembourg.

Personal

Ni began playing table tennis at age 7, and she joined the Chinese national team when she was a teenager.[3]

Career

Ni won team and mixed doubles gold medals for China in the 1983 World Table Tennis Championships.[4][5][6] She moved to Germany in 1989 and settled in Luxembourg two years later. Her husband, Tommy Danielsson, is her coach and training partner.[3] She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, reaching the third round of the singles competition. She qualified for competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Women's singles competition. She lost 4–2 to 16-year-old Ariel Hsing from the US in the 2nd round in the London games.

She competed for Luxembourg at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in the women's singles competition. She lost 4–2 to Feng Tianwei of Singapore in the 3rd round.[7] She was the flag bearer for Luxembourg during the closing ceremony.[8]

When she qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics at the age of 58, Ni became the oldest Olympian table tennis player.[9]

During the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Hybiome Austrian Open, Ni won the longest match in table tennis history which lasted 1 hour, 32 minutes, and 44 seconds.[3][10]

In 2021, Ni, 58 years old, won the women's doubles bronze medal for Luxembourg (LUX) in 2021 World Table Tennis Championships alongside Sarah de Nutte.[11] At the age of 60, Ni was ranked the 46th worldwide.[2][when?]

She competed in table tennis for Luxembourg at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris where she was also one of the country's flag bearers during the opening ceremony.[12] She beat Sibel Altinkaya 4-2 in the first round, but lost 4-0 to the current world No. 1 Sun Yingsha.

Ni is noted to be one of "the most beloved athletes" in Luxembourg, where she was honored twice as that country's Sportswoman of the Year.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ André Damman. "History of World Rankings" (PDF). ittf.com. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b "WTT". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Cohen, Ben; Robinson, Joshua (29 July 2024). "The Olympian Who Is 61 Years Old - and Destroying Athletes Half Her Age". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  4. ^ BIOGRAPHY(World Table Tennis)
  5. ^ Table tennis – World Championships – Mixed doubles
  6. ^ "Guo Yuehua/Ni Xia Lian - Chen Xinhua/Tong Ling 1983". Youtube. 10 November 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  7. ^ "Rio 2016". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  8. ^ "The Flagbearers for the Rio 2016 Closing Ceremony". 21 August 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  9. ^ Ni Xia Lian set to be oldest table tennis Olympian
  10. ^ "ETTU.org - 54-year-old Ni Xialian Wins Longest Table Tennis Match in Modern History". www.ettu.org (in German). Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  11. ^ Table tennis It will be bronze
  12. ^ Gunston, Jo. "PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS: 61-YEAR OLD NI XIA LIAN WINS FIRST ROUND MATCH AT SIXTH GAMES". olympics.com. Retrieved 28 July 2024.