Qiu Jianxin’s “Professional Eye” Why do players gather around this man?

After becoming an all-China champion, he came to Japan. Later, he moved to Germany, where he made his mark in the Bundesliga before becoming a professional coach. Qiu Jianxin once coached Olympic medalists Jun Mizutani and Kasumi Ishikawa. Today, top players and junior players flock to “Qiu Table Tennis School,” which he opened in Osaka. Why does this man attract players? What is his coaching philosophy?

Photo = Manabu Nakagawa Photographs by Manabu Nakagawa 

Qiu Jianxin
Born December 26, 1965, from Jiangsu Province, China. Former China national team player. Became the China champion at 21 and later excelled in the German Bundesliga, also developing many players as a coach

It is important not to coach according to the coach’s preferences, but to identify the player’s strengths and weaknesses.

What kind of person is Qiu Jianxin?

At the 1986 All-China Championships, he won three titles in team, Singles, and men’s Dobles. A former China national team player, he became the world student champion in 1987. In 1989, he played for “Steinhagen” in Germany’s top Bundesliga division, then went on to play for “Mülheim” and “Frickenhausen.” After retiring from active play, he began his coaching career as head coach of “Frickenhausen.” When the team won the German championship in the 2005–2006 season, he received that year’s “Coach of the Year” award. In 2014, he established BTTC (BUTTERFLY Table Tennis Center) in Germany as a base for serious training of young players from Japan and Europe. In Japan, he also served as an acting coach at Saitama Institute of Technology Fukaya High School, and later at Aomori Yamada Gakuen.

　From 2013, he became the private coach of Jun Mizutani (Kinoshita Group) and Kasumi Ishikawa (ZEN-NOH), and also coached Mizuki OIKAWA (Kinoshita Group), Miyu Kato (Kichijoji Table Tennis Club), and others. From 2018 to 2021, he also served as general manager of T League’s Kinoshita Meister Tokyo and Kinoshita Abyell Kanagawa. He currently runs “Qiu Table Tennis School” in Fujiidera, Osaka, and coaches many players there. In November 2022, he signed a private coaching contract with A. Diaz (Puerto Rico, world No. 12). Germany national team player Dang QIU is Qiu Jianxin’s second son.

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● Who were your contemporaries in China?

Qiu　I was one year younger than Jiang Jialiang (former world champion) and Chen Longcan (former world No. 2). Above me were Chen Xinhua and Teng Yi. Jiang Jialiang and Chen Longcan were penhold short-pips players, so if you added me, that made three, and there was no way all of us would make the China national team. Only five players could go to the World Championships, right? In that era, China was made up of two penhold players, two shakehand players, and a Chop player. I knew there would be no chance for me.

　I stayed in China until I was 23, then came to Japan and spent one year coaching at Saitama Institute of Technology Fukaya High School, but because my wife couldn’t get a visa, I went to Germany. I played for one year in Germany’s top Bundesliga division with “Steinhagen,” where I went 31 wins and 5 losses. In Germany, I played for about 13 years in total until 2001. After that, starting around 2003, I studied, obtained a German coaching license, and became head coach of “Frickenhausen.”