Ma Lin (table tennis)

Ma Lin (simplified Chinese: 马琳; traditional Chinese: 馬琳; pinyin: Mǎ Lín; born February 19, 1980) is a retired Chinese table tennis player.

For the para table tennis player, see Ma Lin (Paralympic table tennis).
In this Chinese name, the family name is Ma.
Ma Lin
Ma Lin in 2013
Personal information
Native name马琳
Full nameMa Lin
Nationality China
Born (1980-02-19) February 19, 1980
Shenyang, China
Playing styleChinese Penhold
Highest ranking1 (September 2007)
Height171 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight75 kg (165 lb)
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 3 0 0
World Championships 9 7 4
World Cup 6 0 1
Total 18 7 5
Representing  China
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Singles
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Team
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1999 Eindhoven Mixed Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2001 Osaka Team
Gold medal – first place 2003 Paris Mixed Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2004 Doha Team
Gold medal – first place 2006 Bremen Team
Gold medal – first place 2007 Zagreb Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2008 Guangzhou Team
Gold medal – first place 2010 Moscow Team
Gold medal – first place 2012 Dortmund Team
Silver medal – second place 1999 Eindhoven Singles
Silver medal – second place 2000 Kuala Lumpur Team
Silver medal – second place 2005 Shanghai Singles
Silver medal – second place 2007 Zagreb Singles
Silver medal – second place 2007 Zagreb Mixed Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2013 Paris Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2011 Rotterdam Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Osaka Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2003 Paris Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Shanghai Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Yokohama Singles
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2000 Yangzhou Singles
Gold medal – first place 2003 Jiangyin Singles
Gold medal – first place 2004 Hangzhou Singles
Gold medal – first place 2006 Paris Singles
Gold medal – first place 2007 Magdeburg Team
Gold medal – first place 2011 Magdeburg Team
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Liége Singles
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2002 Busan Team
Gold medal – first place 2006 Doha Mixed Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2006 Doha Team
Gold medal – first place 2010 Guangzhou Team
Silver medal – second place 2006 Doha Singles
Silver medal – second place 2006 Doha Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2010 Guangzhou Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Busan Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Busan Mixed Doubles
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 1996 Kallang Mixed Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1998 Osaka Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1998 Osaka Team
Gold medal – first place 2000 Doha Team
Gold medal – first place 2007 Yangzhou Team
Silver medal – second place 1996 Kallang Team
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Kallang Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Doha Singles

He learned to play table tennis at the age of five and became a member of the provincial team in 1990. In 1994, he joined the Chinese national team. Ma Lin is the only male player ever to win Olympic gold in Singles, Doubles and Team. Additionally, he previously held a professional era record of 5 major titles (4 World Cups and 1 Olympic Gold), having won more World Cups than any other male table tennis player in history.[1] (Note: as of 2020, Ma Lin is now tied with Fan Zhendong for the most World Cup wins of all male players with 4 World Cups each.) He has since been surpassed by Ma Long, who has won 7 major titles.[2]

Since retiring in December 2013, Ma Lin has been serving as the head coach of the Guangdong provincial table tennis team.[3]

Style and equipment

Ma Lin uses the penhold grip. An aggressive player, he is known for his converse unpredictable serves, heavy short push receives, fast footwork, and powerful third ball attacks. In addition to possessing a solid backhand block, Ma Lin also uses the reverse penhold backhand (RPB), an innovative stroke utilizing the underside of the blade which allows a penholder to produce topspin from both wings. The most dangerous weapon Ma Lin has in his arsenal, however, is his consistent forehand loop, which he often uses to end a point decisively. He is also considered a master at serving and his serve is considered one of the best in the world, earning the nickname "Ghost Service". It involves the ball bouncing back to the net instead of going straight off the table.

Because of this, Ma Lin has claimed the titles "Maestro Ma Lin," "Defense Killer," and "Table Tennis Olympic Champion."

Ma Lin is currently using a Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive Penhold as his blade. He uses DHS NEO Skyline 2 TG2 for his forehand and Butterfly Bryce Speed FX for his backhand.

Career
Ma Lin at the 2012 Qatar Open

In the China Table Tennis Super League, Ma Lin played for Bayi Gongshang, Shandong Luneng, Guangdong Gotone, Shaanxi Yinhe and Ningbo Haitan. His transfer to Shaanxi Yinhe for over 5 million Chinese yuan was a league record. His next transfer was to Ningbo Haitan for just 1.3 million yuan (US$168,000), including 1 million yuan in salary.[4]

In China, Ma is famous for his dedication to training ("拼命三郎"); in his early days, he was known for wearing down the soles of his shoes in just three hours.[5] He has won four World Cup trophies (2000, 2003, 2004, 2006), more than any other player in history, but has lost three times in the World Championship finals (1999, 2005, 2007).

Ma Lin has been criticized often for his lack of mental resolve, crumbling in crucial moments. Despite his victories in 1999, he performed poorly in the national trials and was denied a berth in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He was seeded first in World Championship at Zagreb (2007); however, he lost in the final to his compatriot Wang Liqin, after leading 3–1 in games, and being 7–1 up in the fifth. At a post-match press conference, he revealed that his maternal grandfather had committed suicide before the tournament began.

In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Ma Lin won the teams competition with his compatriots Wang Liqin and Wang Hao. In the men's singles, Ma Lin defeated Korean player Oh Sang Eun in the quarterfinals (4–0), his rival Wang Liqin in the semifinals (4–2), and world number 1 Wang Hao in the finals (4–1). Ma Lin is now 15–10 head-to-head against Wang Hao.[6]

An anomaly to Ma Lin is that he is one of the few Chinese players who is not able to complete a grand slam, because he has no World Championships title (his closest being 2007). Yet Ma Lin is considered to be the true Olympiad of table tennis, because he has grabbed all possible titles in the Olympics (Athens 2004 – Doubles Champion with Chen Qi, Beijing 2008 – Singles Champion, Team Events Champion). Furthermore, Ma Lin was inducted into the ITTF Hall of Fame in 2010.[7]

Coaching career

After retirement, Ma Lin has been a coach for the Chinese national team. Since 2013, he has coached the Guangdong provincial team.[3]

Personal life

Ma Lin's alleged girlfriend, Bai Yang, was dropped from Women's National Team in 2004. It is against the rules to date in the Chinese National Team for athletes under twenty years old. Ma Lin went on to secretly marry actress Zhang Yi in late 2004.[8] They divorced in 2009. On this Ma Lin stated, "Table tennis would be my wife forever. This will never change."[9] Ma Lin married Zhang Yaqing in December 2013. On April 19, 2016, they had a son.[10]

Titles
  • 1999 Men's World Championship 2nd Place
  • 2000 Men's World Cup champion
  • 2002 ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals Men's Singles Gold
  • 2003 Men's World Cup champion
  • 2004 Athens Olympic Games champion doubles (with Chen Qi)
  • 2004 Men's World Cup champion
  • 2005 Men's World Championship 2nd place
  • 2006 Men's World Cup champion
  • 2007 Men's World Championship 2nd place
  • 2007 ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals Men's Singles Gold
  • 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Men's Singles champion and Men's Team champion.
  • 2009 Men's World Championship 3rd place
  • 2010 Men's Team World Championship, gold medal.

See also

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Ma Lin". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.
  2. Gurung, Pratima (2021-11-02). "Ma Long Bio | Career, Threats & Net Worth [2022 Update]". Players Bio. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  3. Ma Lin: The Future Coach Of Guangdong Team. Tabletennista.com (2013-09-20). Retrieved on 2016-06-17.
  4. Ping-pong League Ready to Bounce Back. English.cri.cn. Retrieved on 2016-06-17.
  5. Draper, Riley (2021-05-06). "Ma Lin's Equipment, Stats, Height, Net Worth & More". Table Tennis-Sport. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  6. "Ma Lin wins Olympic men's table tennis singles gold". ChinaDaily. 2008-08-23. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  7. "ITTF Hall of Fame" (PDF). ittf.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-08-09.
  8. "Dismissal of Ping-Pong players stirs up controversy". En.people.cn. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  9. "Ma Lin: Table Tennis is My Wife! (VIDEOS)". Archived from the original on 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  10. "Ma Lin is Now a Father". Archived from the original on 2019-08-24. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
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