Zhang Jike
| Zhang Jike | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Native name | 张继科 |
| Nationality |
 China
|
| Born |
February 16, 1988 Qingdao, Shandong, China |
| Playing style | Right-handed, shakehand grip |
| Highest ranking | 1 (June to December 2012) |
| Current ranking | 4 (December 2016) |
| Club | Shandong Luneng |
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Weight | 73 kg (161 lb) |
Zhang Jike (simplified Chinese: 张继科; traditional Chinese: 張繼科; pinyin: Zhāng Jìkē; born 16 February 1988) is a Chinese table tennis player. As of August 2016, he is the number four player in the world.
When Zhang won the Olympic gold medal in singles in London (2012), he became the fourth male player in the history of table tennis to achieve a career Grand Slam. (The first three are Jan-Ove Waldner (in 1992), Liu Guoliang (in 1999), and Kong Linghui (in 2000).) Zhang won the Grand Slam in only 445 days, that is, he won consecutively first in WTTC 2011, then World Cup 2011, and then London Olympics 2012, which made him the fastest player ever to do so. After the first Grand Slam, he continued to win in WTTC 2013 and World Cup 2014, which makes him one who is the closest to achieve a second career Grand Slam. As of December 2016, he is one of the two male players who hold five (the most) major titles in the table tennis history. The other player is Ma Lin.
On Feb 16, 1988, Zhang was born in Qingdao, Shandong Province to Zhang Chuanming (张传铭) and Xu Xiying (徐锡英). His father is a table-tennis coach. He was named after the Brazilian soccer player Zico.
According to his father, Zhang's first time of playing table-tennis was on March 5 1992, at age of 4.
Zhang Jike is a Butterfly sponsored athlete. He uses Butterfly Viscaria for his blade, a Butterfly Tenergy 64 (red) on his backhand, and DHS Hurricane 3 neo National blue sponge (black) on his forehand.
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