Zhang Jike is a retired Chinese table tennis player.
20 Facts About Zhang Jike
2.
Zhang Jike won, consecutively, first WTTC 2011, then World Cup 2011, and then London Olympics 2012, which made him the fastest player ever to win a Grand Slam.
3.
On February 16,1988, Zhang Jike was born in Qingdao, Shandong Province to Zhang Jike Chuanming and Xu Xiying.
4.
Zhang Jike was named after the Brazilian soccer coach Zico.
5.
In 2011, Zhang Jike first played in the singles event at the WTTC and won the gold medal by defeating Joo-Sae Hyuk, Wang Liqin, Timo Boll and Wang Hao, making an epic celebration by ripping his shirt after winning the final.
6.
Zhang Jike won the gold medal in the team event but on the way lost to Timo Boll in the semi-final against Germany.
7.
Zhang Jike won the Gold Medal beating Fan Zhendong, Robert Gardos, Gustavo Tsuboi, Patrick Baum, Xu Xin and Wang Hao in the finals.
8.
In 2017 at the Asian Championships Zhang Jike defeated Yuya Oshima and Lin Gaoyuan before taking the bronze medal.
9.
Zhang Jike's world ranking dropped to 176 due to his absence from the World Tour.
10.
Zhang Jike's ranking however increased to number 71 in just one month.
11.
Zhang Jike uses Butterfly Viscaria for his blade, a Butterfly Tenergy 80 on his backhand, and DHS Hurricane 3 neo National blue sponge on his forehand.
12.
Zhang Jike is a two-winged shakehand attacker, using a combination of quick topspin drive attacks, counters, and loops.
13.
Zhang Jike is using the harder blue sponge H3 Neo for maximum drive.
14.
Zhang Jike stays very low to the ground and is exceptionally quick on his feet.
15.
When Zhang Jike initially joined the national team, the coaches were apprehensive about his forehand technique and thought about changing it completely.
16.
Zhang Jike's spin oriented technique provides him oftentimes with a topspin advantage against opponents.
17.
Zhang Jike would keep his opponents in their backhand corner and go for down-the-line blocking winners as the opposition steps around to use a forehand loop, or just pile up pressure, resulting in bad shot selections and unforced errors by the opponent.
18.
In 2014, Zhang Jike's world ranking dropped to 5th as a result of consecutive early world tour exits and title drought.
19.
However, Zhang Jike managed to lead his hometown team, Shandong, to the 2014 Chinese Table Tennis Super League championship, and he won the World Cup again in October.
20.
Zhang Jike was previously in a relationship with Chinese actress Jing Tian ; they officially announced their separation in June 2019 following allegations that Zhang Jike had shared private videos of her with creditors to whom he owed a gambling debt.