Lin Shidong (; born 18 April 2005) is a Chinese

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 ...

player and the world number 1 since February 2025.

Career

Lin was picked for the

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

provincial team in 2015. After winning the singles title at the national youth championships in 2020, Lin joined the Chinese national second team. He is the first person from Hainan province to be a member of the Chinese national team. In 2022, Lin was promoted to the national first team. He won his first WTT title at the WTT Feeder European Summer Series 2022 held in Budapest. He represented China at the 2022 ITTF World Youth Championships, winning four gold medals including the U-19 singles title. In 2023, Lin Shidong won the WTT Contender series event in Amman. He paired with Kuai Man in the mixed doubles event at the 2023 World Championships, winning bronze in his first appearance at the Championships. After claiming the men's singles title at the

All China Table Tennis Championships The All China Table Tennis Championships is a biennial table tennis tournament regarded as continental championships by China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a p ...

, Lin successfully defended his four titles at the 2023 ITTF World Youth Championships. After the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, Lin Shidong won the men's singles titles at the WTT Contender Almaty and WTT Champions Macao in September. He continued his success in October by defeating

Ma Long Ma Long ( zh, s=马龙, p=Mǎ Lóng; born 20 October 1988) is a Chinese professional table tennis player. He is a two-time Olympic champion, three-time World Champion, and three-time World Cup champion in men's singles. Widely regarded as the g ...

in the final to win the WTT China Smash. His winning streak ended in the men's singles final at the

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics and wate ...

, where he was defeated by

Tomokazu Harimoto is a Japanese professional table tennis player who is ranked No. 4 in the ITTF rankings. Born to Chinese parents, he became a naturalized Japanese citizen in 2014. He won the world junior singles and team title at the 2016 World Junior Table T ...

. Lin subsequently claimed two additional singles titles at the WTT Contender Muscat and WTT Champions Frankfurt. In 2025, Lin won the WTT Singapore Smash title by defeating

Liang Jingkun Liang Jingkun (; born 20 October 1996) is a Chinese professional table tennis player. He is a four-time bronze medalist in men's singles at the World Table Tennis Championships. Career A top junior player with huge potential, Liang made a break ...

in the final, and subsequently reached the No. 1 position in the ITTF world rankings in February. He competed at the ITTF Men's World Cup as the top-ranked player, advancing to the final where he finished as runner-up to

Hugo Calderano Hugo Marinho Borges Calderano (; born 22 June 1996, in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian table tennis player and considered the greatest player from the American continent in the history of the sport. In January 2022, he was ranked No. 3 in the ...

. At the 2025 World Championships, Lin was the only male Chinese player to compete in three events and entered as the top seed in both singles and mixed doubles (with Kuai Man). He was eliminated in the quarterfinals of all three events and did not medal.

Singles titles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lin, Shidong Chinese male table tennis players 2005 births Living people World Table Tennis Championships medalists 21st-century Chinese sportsmen