He Zhili ( zh, s=何智丽, t=何智麗, p=Hé Zhìlì; born 30 September 1964 in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

),Chire Koyama
Sports Reference. Retrieved 9 March 2011 also known by her married name , is a former

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

world champion from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Koyama Chire
International Table Tennis Federation. Retrieved 9 March 2011 who later naturalized as a Japanese citizen and represented

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

under her married name.

Career

Asian Games

Representing China as He Zhili, she was the runner-up in both singles and doubles at the Seoul Games in 1986. Koyama won the

1994 Asian Games The 1994 Asian Games (), also known as the XII Asiad and the 12th Asian Games () or simply Hiroshima 1994 (), were held from October 2 to 16, 1994, in Hiroshima, Japan. It was the first Asian Games in history to be hosted in a non-capital city. Th ...

singles title in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

playing for her adopted country.

Asian Championships

She won gold in singles and silver in mixed doubles at the 7th Asian Championships held in 1983 in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

World Championships

Representing China, she won the singles and team gold during the 1987 World Championships in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. However, she left the national team soon after as a result of her decision to not throw away matches to her teammates. The 1987 world championship semi-finals featured 3 Chinese women and the Korean

Yang Young-Ja Yang Young-Ja (; born July 6, 1964) is a retired female table tennis player from South Korea. Table tennis career She won gold medals in women's doubles at the 1987 ITTF World Championships and the 1988 Summer Olympics, together with Hyun Jung ...

. In the first semi-final, China's Dai Lily led 18–12 in the final set but she blew the lead and lost 21–18 to Yang Young-Ja. It is alleged that the Chinese coaches ( Zhang, Xielin) thought that Guan Jianhua had a better chance of beating Yang Young-Ja in the final, and ordered He Zhili to lose the semi-final. She refused to obey the order and won the match. The Chinese coaches had no option but to support her in the final to increase the country's tally of medals. Though He Zhili beat Yang Young-Ja, she left the team because of the incident and migrated to Japan.

Olympic Games

Koyama represented Japan at the 1996 Atlanta Games and

2000 Sydney Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. She reached the quarter final stage (singles) in both games.

Marriage

He Zhili married and later divorced, Hideyuki Koyama, a Japanese national and settled in Japan.Should we pardon Koyama Chire? by Hu Ziwei
Danwei 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2011 She adopted her husband's surname (her given name “Chire” is the Japanese pronunciation of the same Chinese characters of “Zhili”).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:He, Zhili Japanese female table tennis players Living people 1964 births Table tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic table tennis players for Japan Chinese emigrants to Japan People who lost Chinese citizenship Naturalized citizens of Japan Table tennis players from Shanghai Asian Games medalists in table tennis Table tennis players at the 1986 Asian Games Table tennis players at the 1994 Asian Games Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Chinese female table tennis players Naturalised table tennis players Asian Games silver medalists for China Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Japanese sportspeople of Chinese descent 20th-century Japanese sportswomen