Kong Linghui
Encyclopedia
Kong Linghui is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
, Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang
For the river known in Mandarin as Heilong Jiang, see Amur River' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. "Heilongjiang" literally means Black Dragon River, which is the Chinese name for the Amur. The one-character abbreviation is 黑...
) is a male Chinese table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
player. He competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
, as well as in the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
and the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
.
In 1996, Kong won the gold medal in the men's doubles competition together with Liu Guoliang
Liu Guoliang
Liu Guoliang is a Chinese table tennis player who won all titles at major world tournaments including World Championships, World Cup and Olympic Games. The second man to achieve a career grand slam of 3 majors . He is considered by many to be one of the greatest players of all time.-Biography:Liu...
. Four years later, he won the gold medal in the men's singles competition and the silver medal in the doubles event again together with Liu Guoliang
Liu Guoliang
Liu Guoliang is a Chinese table tennis player who won all titles at major world tournaments including World Championships, World Cup and Olympic Games. The second man to achieve a career grand slam of 3 majors . He is considered by many to be one of the greatest players of all time.-Biography:Liu...
. This made him the third player to achieve a career gland slam of three majors (Olympics, World Cup, World Championships). He is considered by many to be the most complete player of all time.
In 2004, Kong was eliminated in the third round of the Men's Doubles Competition
Table tennis at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's doubles
These are the results of the men's doubles competition, one of two events for male competitors in table tennis at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.-First round:August 15winners on left in bold-Second round:August 16...
together with his new partner Wang Hao
Wang Hao (table tennis)
Wáng Hào is a Chinese table tennis player. He became the World Champion in Men's Singles in Yokohama, Japan in May 2009, defeating 3-time World Champion Wang Liqin 4-0. Other notable accomplishments are the 3-time World Cup Champion in 2007, 2008 and 2010, Singles Silver medalist at the 2004...
.
Kong's style was believed to be modeled on the top European players of the late 80s through to the late 90s, namely the Swedes Jan Ove Waldner and Jorgen Persson, who won the World Championships in Dortmund in 1989 and Chiba in 1991 respectively. They utilised the shakehand grip, and played consistent good all-round games characterised by playing close to mid distance from the table, equal on both backhand and forehand sides and being strong in both attack and containing - both players have excellent receive of service techniques and solid blocking games.
In China's attempt to shake the early 90s European male dominance of the sport - where players such as Saive (Belgium), Primorac (Croatia), Gatien (France), Waldner, Persson and Appelgren (Sweden), and Rosskopf (Germany) were dominating proceedings internationally, they sent the young Kong to Sweden in an unprecedented move to learn the European style of play. He arrived back in China in 1993, and within three years, was ranked world no.1 as of December 1995.
Kong is considered one of the all-time greats of table tennis and has now taken up position as Head Coach of China's National Women's Team.