Han Ying

Han Ying
Han Ying at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Personal information
NationalityChinese (1983–2010)
German (since 2010)
Born (1983-04-29) 29 April 1983 (age 41)
Shenyang, Liaoning, China
Height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Table tennis career
Playing styleRight-handed, defensive
Highest ranking6 (February 2017)[2]
Current ranking33 (19 June 2024)[3]
Medal record
Women's table tennis
Representing  Germany
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Chengdu Team
European Games
Gold medal – first place 2015 Baku Team
Gold medal – first place 2019 Minsk Team
Silver medal – second place 2019 Minsk Singles
Silver medal – second place 2023 Kraków–Małopolska Team
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2013 Schwechat Team
Gold medal – first place 2014 Lisbon Team
Gold medal – first place 2015 Yekaterinburg Team
Gold medal – first place 2018 Alicante Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2023 Malmö Team
Silver medal – second place 2017 Luxembourg City Team
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Schwechat Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Yekaterinburg Doubles
Europe Top-16
Gold medal – first place 2022 Montreux Singles
Gold medal – first place 2023 Montreux Singles

Han Ying (Chinese: 韩莹; born 29 April 1983) is a female table tennis player representing Germany since 2010.[4][5] A specialist in defensive chopping, a style in decline ever since the mid-1990s, she is one of a few surviving defensive players active at the ITTF World Tour level as of 2021.[6]

Her most important achievement are the Olympic silver medal in women's team in 2016 and the fourth place in the same event in 2020. Other major awards include the second place in the 2016 World Tour Grand Finals and the fourth place in the 2020 Women's World Cup.

Career

Childhood training

Han was born in Shenyang, Liaoning, China.[7] In her childhood, she played as an attacker with little progress. In an effort to qualify for the top team in Shenyang, her father convinced her to switch to a defensive chopper. She plays defensively ever since.[6]

She left China at the age of 19 as her style was losing popularity in China. According to her, the China national table tennis team only had three spots reserved for defenders. These defenders almost have no opportunity to play in international tournaments, instead, they serve as internal training partners for the Chinese attackers.[4]

Breakthrough in Germany

Han in 2013

Han played for the German club Turnverein Busenbach from 2002 to 2005. She transferred to another German club, MTV Tostedt, from 2005 to 2012.[8]

She became a naturalized German citizen in 2010.[8] She made her first breakthrough in March 2011 in the German Table Tennis Championship [de], the most important domestic tournament, which she claimed third in singles[8] and she won the women doubles with Irene Ivancan.[9][10] In December 2011 she won the singles in the Bundesranglistenturnier [de], the second most important domestic tournament.[11][4]

She took a break from her career as she gave birth in October 2012.[6] Since April 2013, she relocated to Düsseldorf and played for the Polish club KTS Tarnobrzeg.[7][8]

Major competitions

Han and Ding Ning before their singles quarterfinal in the 2016 Olympics.

Han debuted in the Olympics at the age of 33. As the fifth seed in the singles in the 2016 Olympics, she was defeated 0–4 in the quarterfinal by Ding Ning, the eventual gold medalist. In the women's team, she helped Germany to defeat Japan in the semifinal before losing to China to claim an Olympic silver medal. In the team semifinal, she lost 2–3 to Kasumi Ishikawa but she recovered to defeat Ai Fukuhara 3–2. In the team final she lost 0–3 to Li Xiaoxia.

In the 2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals, she claimed the second place by beating Mima Ito 4–2, Miu Hirano 4–0 and losing to Zhu Yuling 0–4.

In the 2020 ITTF Women's World Cup, she claimed the fourth place by beating Cheng I-ching 4–2, losing to Chen Meng 3–4 and losing to Mima Ito 0–4.

In the 2020 Olympics, she reached quarterfinal of the women's singles by beating Feng Tianwei 4–1 and losing to Sun Yingsha 0–4.

Personal life

Han married Yang Lei, a German table tennis player from China, in 2006. In 2012, she gave birth to her daughter. Han and her family currently reside in Düsseldorf.[12][13]

Finals

Women's singles

Result Year Tournament Opponent Score Ref
Winner 2014 ITTF World Tour, Korea Open Singapore Feng Tianwei 4–0 [14]
Runner-up 2015 ITTF World Tour, Qatar Open Romania Elizabeta Samara 0–4 [14]
Winner 2015 ITTF World Tour, Austrian Open Chinese Taipei Cheng I-ching 4–0 [14]
Runner-up 2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals China Zhu Yuling 0–4 [14]
Runner-up 2019 European Games Portugal Fu Yu 2–4 [15]
Winner 2022 Europe Top-16 Russia Polina Mikhailova 4–0 [16]
Runner-up 2022 WTT Star Contender Doha Japan Miyuu Kihara 3–4 [17]
Winner 2023 Europe Top-16 Austria Sofia Polcanova 4–1 [18]
Runner-up 2023 WTT Contender Antalya Japan Hina Hayata 0–4 [19]

Women's doubles

Result Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Ref
Runner-up 2014 ITTF World Tour, Kuwait Open Irene Ivancan China Ding Ning / Zhu Yuling 0–3 [20]
Runner-up 2016 ITTF World Tour, German Open Irene Ivancan South Korea Jeon Ji-hee / Yang Ha-eun 1–3 [20]

Mixed doubles

Result Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Ref
Winner 2018 European Championships Ruwen Filus Austria Stefan Fegerl / Sofia Polcanova 3–2 [20]

References

  1. ^ "ハン イン Han Ying". tleague.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  2. ^ "ITTF World Ranking". ittf.com. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  3. ^ "ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking". ittf.com. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Adolphi, Gert (20 March 2014). "Han Ying: Junge Mutter mit Top-Ten-Potenzial". German Table Tennis Association's official website (in German). Archived from the original on 28 July 2021.
  5. ^ "HAN Ying". 2020 Olympics official website. 2021.
  6. ^ a b c 陈偲婧; 边玉翔 (2020). "韩莹，在世界杯上削亮全场". Table Tennis World (in Chinese) (12). Beijing: Chinese Table Tennis Association. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Han Ying: Würde mich als gebürtige Deutsche auch ärgern". myTischtennis (in German). 5 November 2013. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d "Han und Duda werden Mitglieder im B-Kader". German Table Tennis Association's official website (in German). 24 July 2013. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Profis - Deutsche Meisterschaften in Bamberg, Bild 8 von 43". mytischtennis. 6 March 2011.
  10. ^ "Irene Ivancan und Han Ying gewinnen Doppeltitel". mytischtennis. 2011. Archived from the original on 9 March 2011.
  11. ^ "Steffen Mengel und Han Ying gewinnen Bundesranglistenfinale". mytischtennis. 3 December 2011.
  12. ^ "Han und Duda werden Mitglieder im B-Kader". tischtennis.de. 24 July 2013. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  13. ^ Von Susanne Heuing (9 August 2014). "Brackweder Glücksfall". nw.de. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  14. ^ a b c d "Finals". ittf.com. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  15. ^ "Timo Boll and Fu Yu clinch European Games titles". ittf.com. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  16. ^ "Darko JORGIC and HAN Ying clinched titles in Montreux". ettu.org. 27 February 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  17. ^ "WTT Star Contender Doha 2022". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  18. ^ "Darko JORGIC and HAN Ying defended their titles in Montreux". ettu.org. 26 February 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  19. ^ "WTT Contender Antalya 2023". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  20. ^ a b c "Matches". ittf.com. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
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