The JLU table tennis team, on behalf of China and led by Professor Yuan Lei, Dean of the Physical Education College, participated in the ITTF Challenge, held in Belarus from November 13th to 18th, 2018. As part of the qualification games leading up to the Olympics, the Challenge featured a high international presence, including nearly 400 players from 33 countries and regions, among which 64 were on world rankings. This was the first time for our table tennis team to compete on behalf of Chinain all competitions including men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and men’s and women’s singles under 21. He Aige, our women’s singles player under 21, excelled by making all the way to the final, where she played against the Japanese player Izumo Misora. During the final, she led the first game but lost the subsequent two. Thanks to the timely regrouping by head coach Zheng Zhibin,she hit back with two consecutive wins and brought home the championship with a 3-2 victory. In women’s doubles, Guo Ruichen and He Aige defeated a French pair and finished third-place.

In the post-match interview, head coach Zheng Zhibin recognized the solidarity and courage exhibited by our players during the match, having played to their best and living up to our expectations.

In addition to the ITTF Challenge, our table tennis team has also participated in the “Sports Exchange between Chinese and Foreign College Students”, a program co-funded by the Northeast Center for International Chinese Language Education, Hanban (Confucius Institute Headquarters), and the Foundation for Development of High-Level Sports Event of Jilin University.