Player Profile: Shuang Wang - Table Tennis

MetroSports Magazine - February 2021

In a November 26th, 2008 article, the New York Times referenced the sport of Table Tennis and its devotees and a “secret society” soon poised to “emerge from behind unmarked doors” of the small handful of places serving the sport in New York City. In the ensuing decade, the sport has grown in popularity and the New York Metro area has become a mecca for world-class athletes pursuing the sport. We recently met one such athlete, Shuang Wang, at Will Shortz’ Westchester Table Tennis Center, one of the region's premier Table Tennis venues, in Pleasantville, N.Y., just north of the City.

Shuang Wang, now living in New York City, hails from Tianjin, China, a city known for being the cradle of several champions in the sport of Table Tennis. She began playing Table Tennis at the early age of 7 when a coach from her hometown noticed her knack for the sport and encouraged her to participate in local competitions. By the age of 11, she had already impressed older and more experienced players in China with her abilities.

With a growing list of impressive results in local competitions, she started to consider Table Tennis as her full-time career. Her passion and dedication to sports led her to attend the Tianjin University of Sports, where she graduated from the Physical Education Program, focusing on Table Tennis. At 18, she was drafted into the Tianjin City Table Tennis Team and received the distinction of “First-Class Athlete,”a rare award only given to elite Chinese players aiming for full national & international career development.

Besides being an incredible player in her own right, Shuang was also the practice partner of many legends of Chinese table tennis in the Tianjin Team, like the world champions Hao Shuai, Li Ping, and outstanding athletes like Ma Wen Ge, Li Nan, Li Yan, and Wang Hui Jing. She also had the opportunity to practice with the North Korean World Champion of 2013/2014, Kim Jong, who provided her with incredible insights on the serving and spin techniques that she still uses to this day. Such experiences not only improved her play but also allowed her to develop unmatched coaching skills.

Wanting to take her career as a player and coach to a higher level, Shuang decided to come to the United States to share her knowledge with American players and coaches, giving private lessons and participating in tournaments across the country. Her achievements have been extraordinary: while participating in less than 20 local tournaments in the country, she reached the highest ranking of 2423, was ranked among the best 25 female players in the USA, and attracted a legion of loyal students who daily rely on her coaching abilities to improve their games. An example of one of Shuang’s successful students is Jensen Feng, who recently became a USA National Table Tennis Men’s Team member.

According to Shuang, "success in table tennis depends on mastering the control of the ball in each stroke, considering speed, placement, force, and spin. Only by adequately mastering these four basic principles, a table tennis player can succeed in a match.” Based on her extensive experience in the sport, she obtained her Coach Club Certification from USATT willing to make positive contributions to American Table Tennis Communities. Now, Coach Shuang plans to move up the Table Tennis ladder locally and become a National Coach with USATT, developing herself - even more - as an expert player and coach.

“A good coach is positive, enthusiastic, supportive, trusting, focused, goal-oriented, knowledgeable, observant, respectful, and patient with its students,” says Coach Shuang. “More than being a compassionate ear, a coach must always welcome his/her student’s comments, questions, and input. The effective coach will actively seek out information from other athletes to improve his own skills and pass it along.”

On a personal level, among Shuang’s hobbies are reading, taking walks in Central Park, skiing and, most interesting, playing billiards. What makes this most interesting is that, going back the 2008 New York Times article, the growth of Table Tennis initially began in the billiard halls of the lower east side and Greenwich Village as those establishments began replacing billiard tables with Table Tennis tables. Her favorite athletes are Ma Long and Michael Jordan, and her favorite food is dumplings and cucumbers.