Chuang Chih-yuan

Chuang Chih-Yuan (traditional Chinese: 莊智淵; simplified Chinese: 庄智渊; pinyin: Zhuāng Zhìyuān; born 2 April 1981) is a Taiwanese table tennis player.[4] He won the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals in 2002. As of August 2016, he is ranked seventh in the world.[1]

Chuang Chih-Yuan
Personal information
Nationality Taiwan
Born (1981-04-02) 2 April 1981
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Playing styleRight-handed shakehand grip
Highest ranking3 (December 2003)[1]
Current ranking9 (December 2016)
ClubSV Werder Bremen (Germany)[2]
Height1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)[3]
Weight60 kg (132 lb; 9 st 6 lb)[3]
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chuang.

Career in table tennis

Chuang's parents were both table tennis players in Taiwan.[5][6] His father was a national doubles champion, and his mother Li Kuei-Mei was a member of the national team. After the end of Li's career as a player, her son, Chih-Yuan, became one of her prodigies in table tennis.

Chuang started competing in 1989, at the age of 8.[4] From the age of 13 his mother sent him to China for training several times. Chuang first made it to the Taiwan national team in 1998. In 1999, Chuang made his World Championships and ITTF Pro Tour debut.[7] At the end of 2000, his mother decided to let Chuang train in Europe, including France and Germany. The process made his matches a combination of the Chinese and European playing styles.

2002 was a sparkling year in Chuang's career. He reached his first three finals on the Pro Tour, but ended them all as the runner-up. He entered the world Top 10 list in September, won the silver medal at the Asian Games and participated in his first World Cup. At the year's end, he consecutively faced the opponents who defeated him in the previous three finals of the Pro Tour, and recorded three straight wins at the Pro Tour Grand Finals.[8][9] He defeated Jean-Michel Saive in the quarter-final, Wang Hao in the semi-final, and Kalinikos Kreanga in the final, claiming the title of Grand Finals Champion.

Chuang won his first Singles title on the Pro Tour at the Brazil Open in 2003, and reached No. 3, the highest world ranking of his career, at the end of the year.[1] He advanced to the quarter-finals in the 2004 Athens Olympics, ending the Games with a loss to Wang Hao.[10] In the men's doubles, he and teammate Chiang Peng-Lung reached the last 16, where they were beaten by Błaszczyk and Krzeszewski of Poland.[10]

In July 2008, his own table tennis stadium, Chih Yuan The Ping-Pong Stadium, opened in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.[11] At that year's Olympics, he was beaten in the third round by Yang Zi of Singapore.[10]

As of June 2012 Chuang plays for Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga in Germany (TTBL). He reached the bronze medal match at that year's Olympics, where he lost to Dimitrij Ovtcharov.[10]

In May 2013, in the 52nd World Table Tennis Championships held in Paris, France, Chuang Chih-yuan and Chen Chien-an defeated Hao Shuai and Ma Lin 9–11, 12–10, 11–6, 13–11, 9–11, 11–8 in the final, and won the Men's Doubles title. Chuang and Chen became the first athletes in Taiwan to win any World Table Tennis Championship title. On 2 September 2019 he announced not to play anymore for the Chinese Taipei national team. It was stated that the main reason for his decision was disagreement with the Chinese Taipei association in that he only wants to play for the Chinese Taipei in single competition.

Career summary

Singles (as of January 27, 2015):[7]

  • Olympics: semi-finals (2012)
  • World Championships: round of 16 (2003, 2007)
  • World Cup appearances: 10. Best record: quarter-finals (2006, 10)
  • ITTF World Tour titles: 4 (Brazil 2003, Chile 2011, Spanish Open 2012 and Hungarian Open 2016). Runner-up: 10 (Qatar, Japan, Dutch Open 2002; Danish Open 2003; USA, Japan Open 2004; Singapore Open 2006; Austrian, German Open 2008; Hungarian Open 2010)
  • ITTF World Tour Grand Finals appearances: 12. Won in 2002.
  • Asian Games: runner-up (2002).

Awards
  • Best Male Athlete Award 2003 and 2012 from Sports Affairs Council, Executive Yuan, Taiwan.[12][13]
  • 41st Ten Outstanding Young Persons (2003) from Ten Outstanding Young Persons' Foundation Co., Taiwan.[14]

Personal life

On October 27, 2012, Chuang married Gladys Shi in his home town of Kaohsiung, Taiwan.[15]

References
  1. "ITTF world ranking". ITTF. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  2. "Levallois Sporting Club T.T." ETTU. Archived from the original on 12 December 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  3. "Athlete's Profile". 2014 Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  4. "ITTF Biography". ITTF. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  5. Chou, Li-Chiang (16 May 2008). 莊智淵的朋友與敵人 (in Chinese). mass-age.com. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  6. 高雄新鮮人─莊智淵的桌球世界. Kaohsiung e-paper (in Chinese). Kaohsiung City Government. 22 August 2008. Archived from the original on 15 August 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  7. "ITTF Statistics". ITTF. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  8. Peter Jensen (13 December 2002). "Learning the hard way". ITTF. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  9. Peter Jensen (15 December 2002). "CHUAN out on top". ITTF. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  10. "Chuang Chih-Yuan biography and Olympic results". sports-reference.com/olympics/. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  11. "Official website of Chih Yuan The Ping-Pong Stadium" (in Chinese). Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  12. Huang, Chiu-Ming (9 September 2003). 92體育精英獎／莊智淵擊敗曹錦輝　摘下最佳男運動員 (in Chinese). NOWnews.com. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  13. 莊智淵、許淑淨獲2012最佳運動員 (in Chinese). Liberty Times. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  14. "Past Winners" (in Chinese). Ten Outstanding Young Persons' Foundation Co. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  15. "ON 27TH OCTOBER CHUAN CHIH-YUAN MARRIED GLADYS SHI". Retrieved 13 December 2016.
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