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| Photo: Stiga |
Penholders used to have a a refulgent history. Olympic men's singles champion, Yoo Nam Kyu, Liu Guoliang, Ryu Seung Min and Ma Lin are all penholders and don't forget the 3-time Olympic silver medalist Wang Hao is also a penholder. However in the current table tennis world, penholders have not reach the same height as their predecessors. Among the top world-class male players, only Xu Xin and Wong Chun Ting are penholders. Probably Xue Fei will join the list in some years?
Not quite a Y2K but we will put 1999-born Xue Fei in the Y2Klub. The right-handed penholder born in Inner-Mongolia, started playing table tennis at the age of 5. In 2007, he moved to Hubei to have a more professional training. He made to the national team in 2013 when he was 14 and was promoted to the A Team (alongside with Wang Chuqin and Liu Dingshuo) 2 years later after placing top 13 out of 22 in the internal team A and team B competition. He also won numerous medals in 2015 Asian Junior & Cadet Championships and World Junior Table Tennis Championships in the same year and wished to become a world champion.
The former head coach of the Chinese national table tennis team, Liu Guoliang, once mentioned Xue Fei's reverse backhand was more outstanding than that of Wang Hao. What a coincidence that Xue Fei is now training under Wang Hao. Xue Fei thought his reverse backhand is slightly different from that of Wang Hao as he stands closer to the table and tends to hit the ball more quickly while Wang Hao played more from the middle court. His tips for other penholders is to pay attention to the grip especially when switching between backhand and forehand.
Without further ado, let's have a look at his amazing reverse backhand! Shown below is his debut in Chinese Table Tennis Super League (CTTSL) in 2016 where he (in red) played against national team A member Lai Jiaxin (in blue) from Sichaun. Aside his reverse backhand, his strong forehand also helped him to win the decisive points in the 5th game.
As a rising penholder, Xue Fei will be playing at 2017 Asian Junior & Cadet Championships, T2 APAC and Chinese National Games later this year. Stay tuned for the emergence of the next world-class penholder.
Competitive Highlights
International
2012 Chengdu Junior & Cadet Open - ITTF Premium Junior Circuit Cadet Boys' Doubles Champion
2012 Asian Junior & Cadet Championships Cadet Boys' Single 1st Runner-up
2014 Chengdu Junior & Cadet Open - ITTF Premium Junior Circuit Junior Boys' Singles 1st Runner-up
Wisdom 2014 World Junior Table Tennis Championships Junior Boys' Doubles Champion
2015 Asian Junior & Cadet Championships Junior Boys' Singles Champion
2015 World Junior Table Tennis Championships Junior Mixed Doubles Champion
2015 World Junior Table Tennis Championships Junior Boys' Doubles Champion
2015 World Junior Table Tennis Championships Junior Boys' Singles 1st Runner-up
National
2013 Chinese Cadet Nationals Boys' Singles 1st Runner-up
2015 Chinese National Youth Games Boys' Doubles 2nd Runner-up
2016 Chinese Nationals Men's Doubles 1st Runner-up
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i love ping pong and penhold style, i have a chinese penhold paddle at home
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Do you play penhold? It's sad that we are seeing fewer penholders on international scene these days. The penholders often have amazing soft touches near the net and tricky serves. By the way, Xue Fei has made the 2018 Asian Games Team. What do you expect from him?
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