Honoree calls table tennis glory 'an inheritance'

In the late 1940s, next to a dimly lit clock shop on Shanghai's Xinzha Road, it was a common sight to see several young students practicing table tennis on a chalk-outlined rectangle on the sidewalk at night.

On this makeshift ping-pong table, Zhang Xielin, then a second-grader at a local elementary school, began forging his lifelong bond with the sport. He later rose to become a player and then a coach of China's national team, witnessing generations of players contribute to the nation's table tennis glory.

Recently, the 84-year-old was awarded the national honorary title of Outstanding Contributor to Sports on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.