About four years ago I had noticed the emergence of a confident and arrogant young Chinese player by the name of Zhang Jike. He seemed different in every respect from his attitude on and off the table. He was the master of his own destiny. Within the space of those four years he became World and Olympic mens singles champion and dispatched all his Chinese counterparts ''Wang Hao'' , ''Ma Lin'' & ''Xu Xin'' with fantastic aplomb.
During the London Olympics some of my colleagues at RTE kept asking me when is Jike playing today and that showed how popular he was amongst other staff members. I always thought the best table tennis players I ever saw were Sweden's Jan Ove Waldner and China's Jiang Jialiang. Well that was until I saw Zhang Jike play. He is Superman and is the table tennis ''Man of Steel''.
A tribute to Zhang Jike is below and includes incredible early footage of how he got to where he is today.
ENJOY:)
JB
During the London Olympics some of my colleagues at RTE kept asking me when is Jike playing today and that showed how popular he was amongst other staff members. I always thought the best table tennis players I ever saw were Sweden's Jan Ove Waldner and China's Jiang Jialiang. Well that was until I saw Zhang Jike play. He is Superman and is the table tennis ''Man of Steel''.
A tribute to Zhang Jike is below and includes incredible early footage of how he got to where he is today.
ENJOY:)
JB
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