[Archive: Xu Yinsheng’s Monologue Vol. 1] A charismatic leader talks about the history of Chinese Table Tennis. How was the strongest Chinese Table Tennis built?

The charisma who laid the foundation for China's rock-solid table tennis — Xu Yinsheng.

While showing a gentle smile, he built coaching theories with a sharp mind and was called “Zhiduoxing” and “Zhijiang.” He helped create a China that won constantly. His monologue at age 76 (in 2009) is also testimony to table tennis history. ＜2009＞

Translation = Iseki Kinuko, Xie Jing, and Yanagisawa Taro

Photos = Takahashi Kazuhiro　Cooperation = Ping Pong World

“We must never forget even now. The reason Chinese table tennis achieved such good results was thanks to the ‘unsung heroes.’”

Xu Yinsheng / Xu Yinsheng (Jo Yinsei)
Born May 12, 1938, from Shanghai. The youngest of eight siblings. His playing style was right-handed penhold with pips-out Fast attack. While enrolled at Shanghai Guangda Middle School, he joined the Shanghai student team in 1955 and the following year the Shanghai municipal team. In 1959, he joined the national team and made his first appearance at the World Championships in Dortmund that same year. At the 26th World Table Tennis Championships in 1961, he contributed as a key Player on the men's team to China's first men's team title. He appeared in four consecutive World Championships through the Ljubljana event in 1965. He won a total of four gold medals: three in men's team and one in men's Dobles. His clever style of play earned him praise as “Zhiduoxing.” In 1977, he became deputy director of the State Physical Culture and Sports Commission (now the General Administration of Sport of China), and in 1979 he became the second president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, serving at the top of Chinese table tennis for 30 years. In 1995, he succeeded Lollo Hammarland as the fifth president of the International Table Tennis Federation (retired in 1999). In 2009, he stepped down as president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association and became its honorary president

At times, enthusiasts would line up around the Table, and even winner-stays-on one-point games were held

China first took part in the World Championships in 1953. Six years later, in 1959, Xu Yinsheng stood on the world stage as a representative of China. As both a Player and later a coach, he guided Chinese table tennis from its earliest days.

Xu Yinsheng was born in Shanghai during a turbulent period in China as the youngest of eight siblings, and he encountered table tennis amid those dramatic times.

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Xu Yinsheng　When I was a child, before the founding of New China (1949), the school facilities in Shanghai were not very good. My elementary school was in a narrow alley. There were no sports facilities, of course, and not even toys to play with. As a form of play, we drew lines on the ground, used bricks as a Net, and crouched on the ground to enjoy ping-pong. When the Rally became intense, we would stand up and hit the Ball. Compared with other games, it involved strategy and competition, which made it appealing.

　Later, I started playing on a Table made of wooden boards, and then on simple Tables placed at company recreation facilities and inside stores. When I was in junior high school, public facilities for workers began to appear in the city, with names like “Workers’ Cultural Palace.” At times, enthusiasts would line up around the Table, and even winner-stays-on one-point games were held. When you got to the Table, you first played using the Ball you brought yourself, and if you won, you received the Ball of the person next in line at the Table.