Ettelburgh: Former table tennis world champion Ni Xialian will become the oldest paddler in the history of the Olympics at 57 when she lands in Tokyo next month. The Chinese-born Xialin will be representing Luxembourg at the Tokyo Olympics in July.
Xialian’s maiden senior international medal came in 1983 when she won the team and mixed doubles gold medals with China at the World TT Championships in Japan. She then moved to Luxembourg in the 1990s running an eatery with her husband Tommy Danielsson.
Managing the business on one side, Xialian kept on with her game. She devised her own program and received backing from the Luxembourg Government and the Olympic Committee. She also trained at home and managed to avoid going to places with a lot of people because staying healthy had been always her top priority.
According to her, nobody could work against nature and age, so she had always tried her best to avoid injury. Her husband, who also works as her coach, was a constant source of encouragement. Xialian stated that she was fortunate and enjoyed her good relationship with Tommy.
Her maiden Olympics appearance came in 2000 at the Sydney Games. However, she took a five-year break from 2002 and 2007. Xialian’s best show at the Olympics was in 2008 and 2016 editions when she reached the third round in women’s singles events.
Xialian also set a record in 2017 for the longest table tennis match at 1 hour 33 minutes and 44 seconds at the ITTF World Tour Hybiome Austrian Open. She upset World No. 13 Honoka HASHIMOTO 4-3 (9-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6, 5-11, 16-14, 18-16).
At the 2019 European Games in Minsk, Xialin won a women’s singles bronze medal. She found it exciting and remarkable, and never imagined she would be playing in Tokyo. Xialian has been representing Luxembourg since 1991.
