Ma Lin (table tennis)

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Ma.

Ma Lin
Personal information
Full name	Ma lin
Nationality	China
Playing style	Chinese Penhold
Born	February 19, 1980 (1980-02-19) Shenyang, Liaoning, China
Height	173 cm
Weight	75 kg
Medal record Men's table tennis Competitor for China Olympic Games Gold 2008 Beijing Singles Gold 2008 Beijing Team Gold 2004 Athens Doubles World Championships Silver 2011 Rotterdam Doubles Gold 2010 Moscow Team Bronze 2009 Yokohama Singles Gold 2008 Guangzhou Team Silver 2007 Zagreb Singles Gold 2007 Zagreb Doubles Silver 2007 Zagreb Mixed Doubles Gold 2006 Bremen Team Silver 2005 Shanghai Singles Bronze 2005 Shanghai Doubles Gold 2004 Doha Team Bronze 2003 Paris Doubles Gold 2003 Paris Mixed Doubles Bronze 2001 Osaka Singles Gold 2001 Osaka Team Silver 2000 Kuala Lumpur Team Silver 1999 Eindhoven Singles Gold 1999 Eindhoven Mixed Doubles World Cup Gold 2011 Magdeburg Team Gold 2007 Magdeburg Team Gold 2006 Paris Singles Bronze 2005 Liége Singles Gold 2004 Hangzhou Singles Gold 2003 Jiangyin Singles Gold 2000 Yangzhou Singles Asian Games Silver 2010 Guangzhou Doubles Gold 2010 Guangzhou Team Silver 2006 Doha Singles Silver 2006 Doha Doubles Gold 2006 Doha Mixed Doubles Gold 2006 Doha Team Bronze 2002 Busan Doubles Bronze 2002 Busan Mixed Doubles Gold 2002 Busan Team Asian Championships Gold 2007 Yangzhou Team Bronze 2000 Doha Singles Gold 2000 Doha Team Gold 1998 Osaka Doubles Gold 1998 Osaka Team Bronze 1996 Kallang Singles Gold 1996 Kallang Mixed Doubles Silver 1996 Kallang Team

Ma Lin (simplified Chinese: 马琳; traditional Chinese: 馬琳; pinyin: Mǎ Lín; born February 19, 1980 in Shenyang, Liaoning, China) is a male table tennis player. He is the world's number seven ranked player as of 04 January 2012 in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

He learned to play table tennis at the age of five and became a member of the provincial team in 1990. In 1994, he joined the Chinese national team. Ma Lin is the only male player ever to win Olympic gold in Singles, Doubles and Team. Additionally, he holds a professional era record of 5 major titles (4 World Cups and 1 Olympic Gold), having won more World Cups than any other male table tennis player in history.

Style and equipment

Ma Lin uses the penhold grip. An aggressive player, he is known for his converse unpredictable serves, heavy short push receives, fast footwork, and powerful third ball attacks. In addition to possessing a solid backhand block, Ma Lin also uses the reverse penhold backhand (RPB), an innovative stroke utilizing the underside of the blade which allows a penholder to produce topspin from both wings. The most dangerous weapon Ma Lin has in his arsenal, however, is his consistent forehand loop, which he often uses to end a point decisively.

Ma Lin is currently using a Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive Penhold as his blade. He uses DHS Skyline 2 for his forehand and Butterfly Bryce/Bryce Speed for his backhand.

Career

In the China Table Tennis Super League, Ma Lin played for Bayi Gongshang, Shandong Luneng, Guangdong Gotone, Shaanxi Yinhe and Ningbo Haitan. His transfer to Shaanxi Yinhe for over 5 million Chinese yuan was a league record but financial bust. His next transfer was to Ningbo Haitan for just 1.3 million yuan (US$168,000), including 1 million yuan in salary.

In China, Lin is famous for his dedication to training ("拼命三郎"); in his early days, he was known for wearing down the soles of his shoes in just three days. He has won the four World Cup trophies (2000, 2003, 2004, 2006), more than any other player in history, but has lost three times in the World Championship finals (1999, 2005, 2007).

Lin has been criticized often for his lack of mental resolve, crumbling in crucial moments. Despite his victories in 1999, he performed poorly in the national trials and was denied a berth in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He was seeded first in World Championship at Zagreb (2007); however, he lost in the final to his compatriot Wang Liqin, after leading 3–1 in games, and being 7–1 up in the fifth. At a post-match press conference, he revealed that his maternal grandfather had committed suicide before the tournament began.

In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Ma Lin won the teams competition with his compatriots Wang Liqin and Wang Hao. In the men's singles, Ma Lin defeated Korean player Oh Sang Eun in the quarterfinals (4–0), his rival Wang Liqin in the semifinals (4–2), and world number 1 Wang Hao in the finals (4–1). Ma Lin is now 12–7 head-to-head against Wang Hao.

Ma Lin has an 88.7% winning rate against all his opponents.

Titles

• 1999 Men's World Championship 2nd Place
• 2000 Men's World Cup champion
• 2002 ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals Men's Singles Gold
• 2003 Men's World Cup champion
• 2004 Athens Olympic Games champion doubles (with Chen Qi)
• 2004 Men's World Cup champion
• 2005 Men's World Championship 2nd place
• 2006 Men's World Cup champion
• 2007 Men's World Championship 2nd place
• 2007 ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals Men's Singles Gold
• 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Men's Singles champion and Men's Team champion.
• 2009 Men's World Championship 3rd place
• 2010 Men's Team World Championship, gold medal.

See also

• List of table tennis players

References

• Chinese Olympic Committee profile
• Sohu Profile
• dataOlympics profile