CHINESE-BORN ATHLETES FLY THE FLAG FOR ADOPTED COUNTRIES

Overwhelmed by talent at home, some competitors are getting second shot at Olympic dream

If it weren't for the different flags sewn on the athletes' uniforms, some early-round table tennis matches at the Paris Olympics could have been mistaken for a national championship in China.

The women's singles match between China's 23-year-old Sun Yingsha, the top seed and world No 1, and Luxembourg's Ni Xialian, 61, left the crowd marveling at the huge age gap between the two players.

Both athletes speak Mandarin and were born in China, and developed their table tennis skills under the Chinese training system, which has seen the country dominate the sport.

Despite a straight-sets loss to Sun in the round of 32 on July 31, Ni etched her name in table tennis history. She is the first woman to have competed in table tennis at six Olympic Games and the oldest to win a match after she defeated Sibel Altinkaya of Turkiye in the opening round on July 27.

An hour after that match, another showdown between two Chinese-born athletes sent the crowd at the South Paris Arena into a frenzy. Veteran Yuan Jianan, representing the host nation France, outplayed Zhang Mo of Canada to advance to the round of 16.

Three days earlier, Portugal's three-time Olympian Fu Yu delivered a major upset by defeating the 9th seed Jeon Ji-hee of South Korea in straight sets. Despite playing under different flags, fans in China rooted for the two "foreign" athletes, who were both born in Hebei province.

Excess of talent

Chinese-born players representing adopted countries is a trend that started in the 1980s. Back then, Chinese athletes began changing nationality to compete for other countries, driven by the prospect of brighter career opportunities, which wouldn't be available to them at home.

As a world power in sports like table tennis, badminton and diving, China is never short of talent thanks to its rigorous State-run development system.

With these sports producing more world-class talent than China needed, some of those "surplus athletes" opted to pursue their athletic careers elsewhere, after being approached by national Olympic committees of other countries eager to boost their talent pool.

In table tennis alone, as many as 13 players born on the Chinese mainland, where they developed their skills, are representing other NOCs in the men's and women's singles tournaments at the Paris Games.

The two oldest table tennis players at the Paris Olympics, Ni and her former teammate Zeng Zhiying, 58, were among the first generation of Chinese national team players who moved overseas to extend their sports careers by becoming naturalized citizens of other countries.

Chinese media have dubbed these sporting emigrants the "foreign legion". While they only have a slim chance of beating better players from their country of birth, they relish the opportunity to participate in international competitions.

"If I'd stayed in China, I probably would have never had the chance to compete at the Olympics because there is always too much talent coming from the pipeline of the Chinese system," Zeng Jian, 27, who represents Singapore in table tennis, told China Daily after her round of 32 match in Paris.

The four-time Commonwealth Games medalist was born in China's Hunan province. She started table tennis training at the age of 6 at the Shichahai Sports School in Beijing. In 2013, she represented the Beijing team in the Chinese Table Tennis Super League, playing doubles with former world champion Guo Yan.

With the domestic competition too intense for her to advance any further, she joined the Singapore Table Tennis Association in late 2014.

Zeng said she has no regrets about the life-changing decision. "I feel grateful for the Singapore association offering me a chance where my skills and years of hard work could be appreciated," she said, adding the switch helped her play in the international arena, which wouldn't have happened if she had stayed in China.

With cultural and language similarities to China, since the late 2000s Singapore has emerged as an ideal destination for Chinese-born table tennis players seeking new opportunities.

Bolstered by former Chinese youth team members Feng Tianwei and Wang Yuegu, the Singapore women's team shocked the Chinese squad with a 3-1 win at the 2010 World Team Championships final. It is the biggest upset win of the "foreign legion" against their birth country.

To encourage the development of homegrown talent across the world, the International Table Tennis Federation tightened its rules on athlete naturalization in 2008. It banned athletes older than 21 who had switched nationalities, from representing his or her adopted country in international competitions.

The rules also impose a waiting period of at least three years before a naturalized athlete can represent his or her new national, or regional, association.

Teammates reunite

Major international events such as the Olympics have also become a stage for reunions of old friends and former teammates born in China.

In Paris, Luxembourg's Ni reconnected with her former teammate Zeng Zhiying, 58, almost four decades after they both played for Team China in the 1980s. Zeng made her Olympic debut in Paris representing Chile.

Zeng was born in 1966, and her mom was a table tennis coach. She picked up a paddle as soon as she could hold one, and joined the junior team at a military sports school in Beijing at the age of 11. Zeng started to compete at national-level events the next year.

Like all her peers, she aspired to make her country proud on the international stage, and harbored a longtime dream to compete at the Olympics. However, Zeng's attempt to qualify for the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics came up short due to the intense competition among her peers, including Ni, for spots on the national team.

Failing to make it to Los Angeles, Zeng retired and moved to Chile, and accepted an invitation to coach school children in the northern city of Arica. She said she "adored" her coaching job.

Zeng didn't pick up a table tennis paddle again until 2003 when she wanted to introduce her 13-year-old son to the sport to try and drag him away from video games and watching television.

However, the competitor now in her 50s realized she could still win at the national level in Chile, which rekindled her Olympic dream.

"I love this country," she said after losing in the preliminary round at the Paris Games on July 27. "I didn't reach my dream in China, and I have here. It's important not to give up."

Despite her early exit from the competition she had every reason to be proud of her efforts in Paris. Her husband and two sons cheered her on in the South Paris Arena and her 92-year-old father back in China was able to see his daughter's lifelong dream come true.

Ni, who was in China's squad at the 1983 Table Tennis World Championships, said they were both on the national team for a period of time.

"It's not easy for her to make a return to this level after not playing for such a long time," Ni said. "No matter what, she built her foundation in the Chinese national team, and that will always make a difference (in international competitions). I congratulate her for making it to Paris."

As to whether her Olympic journey is over, Ni said she is not planning to hang up her paddle any time soon. With support from the sport's governing body in Luxembourg and the grand duchy's government, she said she remains fresh and motivated, even at the age of 61.

"Age is just a number," said Ni, who was born in Shanghai and began her career with the city's women's team in 1978.

She moved to Germany in 1989 for career prospects, and settled down in Luxembourg two years later. There she met her husband Tommy Danielsson, the then Luxembourg national team coach.

"Three years ago, Paris 2024 felt so far away, but I just thought let's keep trying," she said.

"Our team really needs me, and everyone was working so hard. I saw staying around as a way to motivate them. If we make it (to Los Angeles 2028), great. If we can't, then we just enjoy the journey."

Second thoughts

In addition to table tennis, Chinese names can also be found on several other countries' team lists for badminton and diving.

However, the transition to a different culture, coupled with the language barrier, can make it tough for some Chinese athletes to fit in to their adopted homes.

Zhang Beiwen, a badminton player representing the United States in Paris, said it's not always easy to navigate cultural differences, especially for those who moved overseas at an older age. "If you move to the US too late, I don't think it's worth it," said Zhang.

She started playing badminton in her hometown of Anshan, Liaoning province, and moved to Singapore along with her provincial team coach at the age of 13. Following a feud with her coach, she resettled in the US in 2013 and joined Team USA.

" (Latecomers) will have a hard time learning the language and getting used to the social environment," she said.

"It's not easy to compete at your best on the court when you have to deal with new challenges in life adapting to a new home."

Not all China-born athletes receive a warm welcome in their adopted countries, as sometimes their presence is seen as compromising the development of homegrown talent.

"There have always been some complaints from local fans," said Peter Hubner, a sports reporter covering table tennis in Paris for German media outlet Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

"They're afraid that the use of Chinese immigrants may affect the resources and funding allocated to developing native talent. It makes sense. But it will be easier for the second generation of Chinese players to be accepted."

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn