Zhang Jike: Timo Boll Is The Reason Of Liu Guoliang’S Sleepless Nights

Zhang Jike started playing table tennis at 5 years old with his dad who happens to be a professional table tennis coach. Zhang Jike’s name was after the Brazilian star Zico, who was the favorite soccer player of Zhang Chuanming, his father. By the way, the name “Ji Ke” means “successor to the family” (if I’m not mistaken). Aside from table tennis, Zhang Jike also loves to collect watches and already have several Swiss watches in his collection.

On a different note, Zhang Jike was once considered to be introverted – a boring type of boy (I guess that also explains his difficulty in dealing and following orders from his coach). But in his recent match against Boll, Jike totally wasn’t a boring player. He was super active with shouts, fists, and bouncing which almost seemed like dancing.

Why so excited? Zhang Jike said: “Because Timo Boll is the reason why coach Liu was having sleepless nights in Rotterdam.”  

With the previous records of Zhang Jike and Boll, their semifinals match can’t be actually considered to upset the audience since Zhang Jike has posted more wins than losses against Boll. In the last three international competitions, Zhang Jike won twice and lost in just one incident.

After that impressive semifinal match, Zhang Jike just became “Boll’s nemesis.”

In the final match, Zhang Jike overcame Wang Hao. Wang almost had no chance to fight back. It was only in the last match that Wang Hao demonstrated a great deal of stability and almost had his chance to recover.

After the win, Liu Guoliang sighed: “He was unknown before. Today, the unknown became the miracle.”

Before, Wang Hao and Ma Long were the two names that are most likely to replace Wang Liqin and Ma Lin. Now, with the rise of Zhang Jike in Rotterdam, the Chinese TT men’s team is entering into a new era with “three pillars.”

Zhang Jike seemed to be an interesting player who is stubborn yet honest on how he feels and thinks, especially when he dropped Liu Guoliang’s reason of sleepless nights. He seems to have no pretensions and inhibitions which could reach to his performances. Those traits can really make him a very powerful player. With the continuous “hammering” from the coaches, Zhang Jike will, no doubt, develop into a fully matured athlete.                

Photo source: enbar.net/en/2011-03-08/content7_144374.shtml