WhenChina's four-time Olympic gold medallist Deng Yaping retired in the years following the 1996 Atlanta Games, the nation needed a new queen for its No. 1 sport, table tennis. Wang Nan has emerged from the country's deep pool of talent to claim the throne.
The old met the new at the 1996 World Championships when the outgoing Deng faced the incoming Wang in both the singles and doubles gold-medal matches. Deng, a gold medallist in both categories atAtlantaand at the 1992 Barcelona Games, had too much experience for the young, attacking left-hander, beating her in both games. Yet, the signs of changing times were there.
As Deng cut back on her playing schedule, Wang won her first Pro Tour title in doubles in 1997. The next year, she collected the singles title in the 45thWorld Cup, swept the women's singles, women's team, mixed doubles and women's doubles gold medals in the 13thAsian Games and replace Deng to be atop the world ranking.
In 1999, Wang consolidated her position in women's table tennis after colleting women's singles and doubles titles in the 45thWorld Championships, the women's singles and doubles titles in the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Final.
The following year, Wang was gold medallist in women's singles in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and remained atop of the world ranking.
In 2001, she finished 2ndin women's singles in the ITTF Pro Tour final, 1stin women's singles, team and doubles in the 46thWorld Championships
Wang was born in the city ofFushuninNortheast China'sLiaoningProvinceonOctober 23, 1978and began to play table tennis at the age of 7. Two years later, she entered theLiaoningprovincial team and in 1993, she became a member of the national team.
Wang won her first world championship in the 1994 Sweden Open and collected women's singles title in the China Table Tennis Grand Prix in 1995.
Wang's style: Lefthanded, stable and patient, all round skills. She evidently replaced Deng Yaping to dominate all women's events, unshakeably No.1 in ITTF ranking list.
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