Have you heard the tale of the 61-year-old grandmother who faced off against the world’s top table tennis player? Well, not exactly. On Monday, Ni Xia Lian from Luxembourg, born on July 4, 1963, became the oldest competitor ever to win a table tennis match at the Olympics by defeating 31-year-old Turkish player Sibel Altinkaya. However, on Wednesday, she made history again as the oldest player to lose a match after being defeated by Chinese world and Olympic silver medallist Sun Yingsha. Sun, 23 years old and ranked world No. 1 after her team gold win in Tokyo, is not just 38 years younger than Ni, but also nine years younger than her own son.
Sun won in straight sets, 4-0, but once the match concluded, it was Ni who received a standing ovation from the delighted audience and a hug from the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. She lingered long after the session ended, engaging with various TV crews and journalists eager to share her inspiring story. Ni is an extraordinary person, radiating sweetness and joy until it’s time to compete at the table. She shares that the one athlete she’d love to enjoy a coffee with is her husband, Tommy Danielsson, a former competitor for Sweden, and her hobby is “making her home beautiful”—all while fiercely competing against players half her age.
Ni began her table tennis journey as a young girl in Shanghai, inspired by a tournament she watched on television. By the age of 16, she was already part of the national team, and in 1983, she clinched two gold medals for China at the World Championships held in Berlin. She fell in love with the city and moved there to continue her studies, eventually settling in Luxembourg after graduation. The foundational skills she acquired as a child have stayed with her throughout her life. This year marks her sixth Olympics, and she was honored to carry Luxembourg’s flag during the opening ceremony.
Ni is quite beloved in Luxembourg and has a significant following in China. Younger players on the circuit affectionately refer to her as “Auntie.” Nevertheless, she confessed to feeling a bit anxious about playing against Sun. “I was one of the best in the world too,” she remarked post-match, “but that was 40 years ago!” She nearly clinched the third game with some incredible backhands, but ultimately lost 13-11. “I was concerned whether I was good enough, but if you never try, you’ll never know,” she explained. Despite not being as swift or strong as many of her competitors, she possesses a savvy skillset.
Interestingly, Ni is only eight days older than the head coach of the Chinese national team. She may not move around the table quickly, yet she consistently finds herself in the right spot. With her left-handed pen grip, she creates all sorts of deceptive spins on the ball, making it curve, dip, and whip unpredictably. “My style is traditional, but my technique is innovative,” she shared. “You can always adapt and improve. I hope we demonstrated that people of all ages can participate and that everyone can play.”
Ni has already motivated at least one other athlete at the games. Her former Chinese teammate, Zhiying Zeng, has returned to the sport after a 30-year hiatus. Now residing in Chile and working in the furniture industry, Zeng took up table tennis again during the pandemic for exercise and social interaction. Before long, her muscle memory revived, and she started dreaming of qualifying for the national team again. While studying her international competition online, she was delighted to see Ni’s familiar face.
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The two women had been teammates on the national team in the 1980s. “When I started playing last year, Ni was already 60 years old,” Zeng, 58, reflected. “If she can play, then I can also focus on my fitness and participate. She’s a role model for me to aspire to.” Zeng was eliminated in the first round, but as Ni has proven, there’s no reason she can’t aim for a spot in Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympics. Ni isn’t dismissing the idea either. “Who knows?” she mused, “The heavens will decide! There were times I wondered if I was too old to compete, but I reminded myself that’s simply not true, and I always say: ‘I’m always younger today than I will be tomorrow.’”
