ZHANG JIKE from Qingdao defeated top seed Wang Hao 4-2 to claim the men’s singles title at the World Table Tennis Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on May 15.

    It was the 23-year-old’s first and China’s 16th WTTC men’s singles title.

    Zhang was also the first person from Qingdao to win the WTTC title.

    Zhang started his table tennis career at age 5. He joined Shandong Luneng Team in 2000 and was selected for the national team in January 2003.

    In 2007, Zhang played for the mixed doubles at Zagreb WTTC.

    Zhang won his first group world title at 2009 World Table Tennis Championships in Yokohama.

    He won his first world singles title at the 2010 World Cup Table Tennis Tournament in Russia.

    Zhang is now ranked 3rd in the world in men’s singles.

    (Chen Ting, Liu Changzhou)