Xiaoxin Yang
China
China
Being in her thirties, Xiaoxin Yang is approaching the twilight of her career as a ping pong player and will likely soon be hanging up her paddles. Having started playing the game at only six, she has had her fair share of successes in the sport, with an 83%-win rate. The Monégasque international selected her to represent the country even in the Olympics. So, what more is there to this table tennis superstar? Keep reading to find out.
Quick Facts
Biography
Xiaoxin Yang was born on January 8th, 1994, in Beijing, China, where she spent most of her early life. It was also where she started playing ping pong at six with encouragement from her parents, something she has stuck to since. At 17, she moved to France and then to the Principality of Monaco at the behest of Monaco’s Table Tennis Federation president, Marc Loulergue.
Career
Shortly after that, she broke into the ITTF top 200 players, and in December 2007, she was 169th in the world. She started representing Monaco internationally in 2013, and around this time, she also broke into the top 100 world rankings for the first time. She was ranked 64th in the world in March of the same year.
However, she only became a full citizen in 2017. 2018 saw her dip in form and drop to her lowest ranking since she broke into the top 200 for the first time. At one point, she was even ranked 314th in the women’s singles category.
She eventually recovered her form, and where others seem to hit their prime between 24-28, it seems to have come much later for Yang. In fact, at 34, she seemed to be in the highest form of her career, as shown by the fact that she got her highest-ever 10th-place world ranking in 2022.
Notably, she was also selected to represent her country in the 2020 Olympics, and though she didn’t get a medal, she put Monaco on the map. In an interview with Hello Monaco, she also expressed interest in playing and being better at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Given that she moved up from position 33 at the time of the previous Olympic games, she might be looking to end her career on a high note. That said, 55-year-old Ni Xia Lian has also shown that getting older doesn’t necessarily mean losing your edge after getting bronze at the European Games, according to AP News.
When she’s not playing for her country, she’s playing for her club, the CP Lys-lez-Lannoy Lille Métropole in France. She also has a relatively light build standing at 5 ft 1 inch tall and weighing 48 kg. As for the game, she uses a right-handed shakehand grip with her equipment matching her playing style.
Naturally, if you use a Penhold grip, your playing style may be different, in which case our list of the best ping pong paddles for Penhold grip may help you find something ideal for your needs. Also, if you do find a great paddle and want to keep it in tip-top shape, you should check out our best ping-pong paddle cases for something to keep your equipment from harm.
Career Achievements
Xiaoxin’s career achievements include four silver medals alongside ten gold medals. Her first gold medal came in 2013 at the Swiss Open after a final against Hungarian Georgina Pota. She got her second a year later at the ITTF World Tour, Croatia Open, and a third at the Games of the Small States of Europe in the same year.
2016 also saw her clinch two gold medals, one from the Swiss Open and another from the ITTF World Tour, Czech Open. At the 2018 Mediterranean Games, she only managed to get silver but won the Final of the Luxembourg Open against Russian Anna Blazhko to clinch gold.
In 2019 the only medal she got was gold at the Games of the Small States of Europe. Similarly, in 2020 she only got one medal for the whole year though this time it was the ITTF Challenge, Spanish Open silver. 2021 saw her win the WTT Contender Budapest, the ITTF Czech International Open, and get second place in the WTT Contender Tunis.
In 2022 she won the Mediterranean Games, and more recently, she lost the final to South Korea’s Shin Yu-bin at the 2022 WTT Contender Nova Gorica but still went home with the silver.
There’s also the fact that she qualified for 2020 Olympics, although she only managed a 17th-place finish.
Medal Records
- Swiss Open gold – 2013
- ITTF World Tour, Croatia Open gold – 2014
- Games of the Small States of Europe gold – 2015
- Swiss Open gold – 2016
- ITTF World Tour, Czech Open gold – 2016
- Luxembourg Open gold – 2018
- Games of the Small States of Europe gold – 2019
- WTT Contender Budapest gold – 2021
- ITTF Czech International Open gold – 2021
- Mediterranean games gold – 2022
- Mediterranean games silver – 2016
- ITTF Challenge, Spanish Open silver – 2020
- WTT Contender Tunis silver – 2021
- WTT Contender Nova Gorica silver – 2022
Social Media
Yang isn’t big on social media, but she does have a Facebook profile and will be among the top five search results if you search her name.
Xiaoxin Yang Equipment
Videos
Final Thoughts
Xiaoxin Yang seems intent on success at the Olympics, and since she participated in the 2020 Olympics, her game has improved rapidly. She seems to have entered her prime in her thirties, and while most players typically retire in this age range, Yang doesn’t seem like she wants to stop any time soon. We may yet see even greater things from her, and all we can do is keep an eye open for this exciting talent.