Matthew Syed competed as an English table tennis international, and was the English number one for many years.
19 Facts About Matthew Syed
1.
2.
Matthew Syed is a three-time men's singles champion at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, and competed for Great Britain in two Olympic Games, at Barcelona in 1992 and at Sydney in 2000.
3.
Matthew Syed has worked for The Times newspaper since 1999, and has published six books: Bounce in 2010, Black Box Thinking in 2015, The Greatest in 2017, You Are Awesome in 2018, Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking in 2019, and Dare to be You in 2020.
4.
Matthew Syed's father, Abbas Syed, was a Pakistani immigrant to Britain who converted from Shia Islam to Christianity, and his mother is Welsh.
5.
Matthew Syed attended the Maiden Erlegh School in Earley near Reading, then studied at Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated with first-class honours in PPE in 1995.
6.
Matthew Syed won many titles with his usually defensive style.
7.
Matthew Syed reached his top world ranking of 25 at the end of 1998.
8.
Matthew Syed reached the final of the European Youth Championships in 1985, losing to Dmitry Mazunov.
9.
Matthew Syed was a member of the English team that won the European title in 1986.
10.
Matthew Syed represented Great Britain in the men's singles at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, but failed to reach the second knockout stage each time.
11.
Matthew Syed was English champion four times, in 1997,1998,2000 and 2001.
12.
Matthew Syed won the men's singles event at three consecutive Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, in 1997 in Glasgow, 2000 in Singapore and 2001 in Delhi, and won three titles as a member of the English men's team in 1994,1997 and 2000.
13.
Matthew Syed was a member of the England men's team that won the gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
14.
Matthew Syed has worked as a commentator for the BBC and Eurosport, and as a journalist for The Times since 1999.
15.
Matthew Syed is a regular pundit on radio and television, commentating on sporting, cultural and political issues.
16.
Matthew Syed's style has been mocked by satirical magazine Private Eye.
17.
Matthew Syed was one of the co-founders of TTK Greenhouse, a sports-related charity.
18.
Matthew Syed stood as the Labour candidate in the 2001 UK General Election in Wokingham, coming third in a safe Conservative seat.
19.
Matthew Syed won a place on the Labour Party's shortlist to succeed Ashok Kumar for the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in the 2010 UK General Election.