Feng Tianwei
-960
-960 Feng Tianwei is a China-born Singaporean table tennis player who moved to Singapore under the foreign sports talent scheme in 2007. Since then, she has built a ping pong career that many admire and is considered to have done more for the sport than any other. She has represented Singapore in many international tournaments, including in the Olympics, directly being responsible for three of the country's five medals. However, she isn't as active in the sport anymore. So what kind of player was she? Keep reading to find out.
Quick Facts
Biography
Feng Tianwei was born in Harbin, China, the Heilongjiang province's provincial capital, to father Feng Qinzhi and mother Li Chunping. While her parents didn't have much, they sacrificed to put her through table tennis training throughout her childhood. Her father eventually died from multiple sclerosis weeks before she tried for her home country's national B team.
She then topped the qualifying matches, earning a call-up to China's national team in 2003. However, she also became sick and couldn't participate as much as she wanted in games. Eventually, she went to play in the Japanese professional league, where she was scouted by Liu Guodong, one of the Singapore Table Tennis Association coaches.
She was then officially invited into Singapore under its Foreign Sports Talent Scheme, becoming a Singapore citizen in 2007. Feng would then go on to represent Singapore in several competitions, including three Olympics and multiple Commonwealth Games.
She has amassed several medals, including Singapore's first Olympic medal in 48 years as well as its first as an independent nation. As such, she's a Singaporean legend. She hardly plays professionally anymore, but she's already had a pretty eventful career in the sport.
Career
While she did participate in youth tournaments in China when she was younger, her Singaporean career began in 2007 in the ITTF Volkswagen Korean Open as an under-21 player. However, she would have to wait until later that year to clinch a medal at the ITTF Pro Tour Chinese Taipei Open, where she went home with a silver.
She would also win silver at the next year's Beijing Olympic games in the team event while coming in fifth in the singles. Over her career, she has played in four Olympic events, including the last Tokyo Olympics.
At the 2012 Olympics, she took home two bronze medals for the team and singles and hasn't won another since. However, she and her teammates came close in Rio 2016, placing fourth. As such, Feng Tianwei's Olympics record is one silver and two bronze.
She also has a pretty good record in the Southeast Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, ITTF World Tour, Asian Cup, Asian Championships, World Cup, and World Championships, amassing over 80 medals. Over 30 of these are gold medals.
Also a testament to how good her career has been, she was the first Singaporean to win the Commonwealth games outstanding athlete award.
Playing Style
Feng Tianwei's table tennis playing style involves holding her paddles with a shakehand grip. She is right-handed and likes to play quick counters with either her forehand or backhand, depending on the situation, in an effort to end the game quickly. She will also switch sides fast after pushing an opponent to one side of the table.
Achievements
Here's a list of some of Feng Tianwei's achievements in various tournaments.
Olympic Championships
- Beijing Olympics 2008 – Team silver
- London Olympics 2012 – Team bronze
- London Olympics 2012 – Singles bronze
World Championships
- Guangzhou World Championship 2008 – Team silver
- Moscow World Championship 2010 – Team gold
- Dortmund World Championship 2012 – Team silver
- Paris World Championship 2013 – Doubles bronze
- Tokyo World Championship 2014 – Team bronze
- Suzhou World Championship 2015 – Doubles bronze
- Dusseldorf World Championship 2017 – Doubles bronze
Asian Championships
- Lucknow Asian Championship 2009 – Team silver
- Lucknow Asian Championship 2009 – Doubles bronze
- Macau Asian Championship 2011 – Doubles bronze
- Busan Asian Championship 2013 – Team bronze
- Pattaya Asian Championship 2015 – Singles bronze
- Yogyakarta Asian Championship 2019 – Team bronze
Feng Tianwei’s Ranking
Feng Tianwei's ranking has varied over the years, with her highest position being second in the world for several months in 2010 and then again in 2011. She doesn't feature in the world rankings, having played her last match in March 2022.
Net Worth and Income
Feng Tianwei's net worth specifics are currently unknown, although given her successes in her career, she may be worth several million dollars.
Personal Life
Not much is known about Feng Tianwei's personal life except that she is studying sports industry research at Beijing's Peking University.
Social Media
Feng Tianwei is on Facebook and Instagram, although she has been fairly inactive in both since late 2022. However, only her Facebook account under her name is verified.
Feng Tianwei Equipment
Videos
Final Thoughts
Overall, Feng Tianwei has earned the right to be considered a Singaporean legend, having done more for the sport in the country than any other before her. She's had an eventful career, and despite not admitting it, she may have reached the end of her professional playing days. Nevertheless, given her chosen field of study at Peking University, she may be back to the sport in a different capacity.