Site Products

Olympic Spotlight: Chen Meng Eyes Gold

(by Steve Hopkins, photo by ITTFWorld)

Chen Meng is currently at the top of the ITTF rankings, and it isn’t close.  China’s top player has 11850 points and the next closest player, Japan’s Mima Ito, is nearly 1400 points behind.  Chen will be the top seed at the Olympics and she’ll be a solid favorite.  According to a feature on Olympics.com (see original here), she first became a known commodity in China when she beat World Championship Guo Yue at age 17 in China’s team trials events for the 2011 World Championships.  That same year, she dominated youth titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.

Chen first reached World No. 1 in 2018 and has been the most consistent player for the most dominant country, but this will be her first Olympics.  She won both the Women’s World Cup and the ITTF Grand Finals last November, so perhaps she’s on a roll.  However, before 2020, it often seems like she missed out at key points in the biggest tournaments and fell short – losing in the Finals or Semifinals (usually to another Chinese player).    That makes things interesting as in Singles Japan’s Mima Ito and China’s Sun Yingsha will both have their eyes on the Gold medal as well.

Chen will also  anchor a highly favored Chinese team that will feature 3 of the top 4 players in the world – a team so highly favored that in nearly every match they could suffer two upsets and still win in the best 3 of 5 format.

Expect to see Chen Meng in the center podium next month in Tokyo.  The real question may not be whether she takes home a gold, but rather how many gold medals she will be able to claim.

Visit ButterflyOnline.com for table tennis news and scores.

Latest News

#3 High toss serve that disrupts the opponent’s rhythm and leads to a quick attack

July 14, 2025
[Feature] [Special feature] America’s star! Jha’s strong points #3 High toss serve that disrupts the opponent’s rhythm and… Read More

Ten Tips for Faster Footwork

July 14, 2025
(By Larry Hodges) Tie your shoes tight so there’s less give when you move. Grippy shoes on non-grippy… Read More

Rogelio Castro – Third Ball Attack

July 14, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Training Tips, Rogelio Castro is executing the “Third Ball Attack” using his… Read More

MLTT Featured Team: Chicago Wind

July 14, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo MLTT) The Chicago Wind plan to blow over competition in the upcoming Major League… Read More

Wang Chuqin and Zhu Yuling

July 13, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) Wang Chuqin made quick work of Tomokazu Harimoto in the Men’s Singles Final of the… Read More

WAB CLUB FEATURE: California Table Tennis

July 13, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) Nestled in Rosemead, California, at the heart of the San Gabriel Valley near Los Angeles,… Read More

United States Smash: Harimoto and Chuqin to Clash in Finals

July 13, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) Fans in Las Vegas were treated to two epic Semifinal matches on Saturday at the… Read More

United States Smash: Semifinals

July 13, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) When all was said and done, it was the top three seeds (and the sixth… Read More
View All News

Get the latest from Butterfly

Stay “In The Loop” with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.