Li Ju, the tomboy of Chinese women’s table tennis

Li Ju had been one of the leading cogs in the formidable Chinese table tennis juggernaut wheel that had been rolling on for the last 2 decades. Li Ju was nicknamed ‘tomboy’ due to her fierce spirit and proficiency like male players. Her stamina was evident from the fact that she played table tennis at the highest level for about 13 years. She played with a shakehand grip and was a right-handed player, launching attacks from both the planks. She used to come up with incredible strokes at the least expected moments, surprising the opponents. Li Ju sort of semi retired in 2001 but made a comeback in 2003. Even during that period, Li Ju was holding the fifth place for four months in 2002. Li Ju finally bid farewell in 2005, after being nagged with injuries and illnesses for 4 years. Between January 2001 and May 2001, Li Ju was ranked second in ITTF world rankings for women. It would be interesting to note that Li Ju was ranked fifteenth in the world, when she retired in April 2005.

Li Ju was born on January 22, 1976 in Nantong of Jiangsu Province in China. She started playing table tennis at the age of 7. She joined the Chinese youth team in 1991 and the national team in 1992. She was world champion 7 times in 11 years. She was the winner of singles title in the 1998 Asian Championship ATTU. In the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, she won the silver medal in singles event, losing to Wang Nan and got the gold medal in the doubles event, partnering Wang Nan. She was the ITTF Pro Tour singles champion in Zhuhai in 1997, in Doha and Wakayama in 1998, in Guilin in 1999 and in Chang Chun City in 2,000. In the same year, Li Ju won the 2000 World Cup Women’s singles title. She also won several doubles events between 1996 and 2003.

The 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney was a very significant moment in the career of Li Ju. In the women’s singles finals, Li Ju and Wang Nan gave a superb exhibition of extraordinary shot-making skills. Wang Nan won the first game 21-12. Li Ju fought back to take the next two games 21-12 and 21-19, when Wang Nan’s concentration lapsed a little. However, Wang Nan managed to overpower Li Ju with a few well-paced shots and took the fourth and fifth game at 21-17 and 21-18. Li Ju was forced to be content with silver in the women’s singles event.

A few days earlier, Li Ju and Wang Nan, ranked number two and one respectively in the world women’s table tennis field, had overcome another Chinese pair of Sun Jin and Yang Yin the women’s doubles title match. They did not concede even a single game, winning 21-18, 21,11, and 21-11. While the first game was pretty close, the number one seeds were quite comfortable and easily dominated the match. Still, there were some exciting rallies from both sides in the finals.