Two rooms, two atmospheres. At 61 and 58 years old, Ni Xia Lian and Zhiying Zeng of course have a lot in common. They are both the oldest players in the table tennis tournament. They were both naturalized. Both born in China, one plays for Luxembourg, the other for Chile.
Despite all these similarities, which are so many chances, the two “grandmas” have opposite trajectories. At 61 years old, Ni Xia Lian is a regular at major tournaments. World champion in mixed doubles in 1983, the Luxembourger participated in the Olympic Games in 2000, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2021. Fifth Games in a row. After spending two rounds here in Paris, she will play Sun Yingsha, already crowned in mixed doubles.
At 58, Zhiying Zeng had a completely different life. Having left China for Chile, she abandoned table tennis for a long time. She discovered the Olympic Games this year in Paris. Just one turn and then it's gone. The Chilean lost 4-1 against the Lebanese Mariana Sahakian, 41 years old. “As long as my body allows me, I will play. I'll see if I'm there in four years.
Ni Xi Lian, a 61-year-old table tennis player from Luxembourg, is the oldest non-equestrian athlete at the Paris Olympics. When she made her international debut in 1979, almost none of her competitors this year had yet been born. Nee won her first world championship in 1983, and her first-round opponent in Paris was born in 1993 - younger than Nee's son.
"I'm a grandmother of table tennis," Ni says in an interview with the "Wall Street Journal" as she arrives at the Olympic Games for the sixth time. "I'm not a grandma - yet, I'm waiting." Ni retired and came back from retirement before Michael Jordan, then did it again. In fact, it was at its peak even before table tennis became an Olympic sport.
Ni was born on July 4, 1963 and started playing table tennis in China at the age of 7. She was selected for the Chinese national team as a teenager. If table tennis had been an Olympic sport in 1984, Nee almost certainly would have won a medal. Instead, when table tennis made its debut in 1988, she was already deep into her first retirement.
Nee thought she had achieved everything she hoped to achieve in the sport and was ready to move on. She wanted to go back to school and eventually become a doctor. Feeling pressured to leave China when it opened up to the world, she moved to Germany and then Luxembourg, thinking she would stay in the small country for one year. "But one year turns into two, two years turns into three, and now she's been here 35 years," said Tommy Danielson, who became her coach and then her husband.
One of the favorite athletes in Luxembourg, Ni Xi Lian, photo: AFP. Today, Ni is one of the most beloved athletes in her adopted country. She is a two-time Sportswoman of the Year (more than 20 years apart) and carried the flag at last week's opening ceremony. "Everybody knows her," said the president of the Luxembourg Olympic Committee, Andre Hoffmann. "This is perhaps the biggest turning point in Nee's career, considering that when she moved to Europe, she knew nothing about this small country."
