Liu Jia ( zh, t=劉佳; born 16 February 1982 in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China) is a Chinese-born Austrian left-handed

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.

Early life

From 1992 to 1995, Liu attended Shichahai Sporting High School in Beijing. Afterward she became a member of professional club Shian Nuntan, where she played with

Zhang Yining Zhang Yining (; born 5 October 1981) is a Chinese table tennis player who retired in 2009. She is considered one of the greatest female players in the sport's history. In terms of achievements, she is one of the most successful female table tenn ...

. Despite Liu's successes as a Cadet and Junior, competition within the Chinese team was strong and prospects for a future international career were dim. Instead of following a call to Japan, Liu travelled to Austria when the opportunity arose to play for Austrian team Linz AG Froschberg. She arrived in March 1997 without speaking either German or English, but quickly learned German within the year that she settled in Austria. She won the first International Austrian Youth Championships soon after her arrival. On 16 February 1998, her 16th birthday, she became an Austrian citizen and a member of the Austrian

squad. Her husband, David Arvidsson is an international Danish table tennis player.

Career

Liu continued her success on youth level by taking Gold in the Singles, Doubles and Mixed competition at the 1998 European Youth Championships in

Norcia Norcia (), traditionally known in English by its Latin name of Nursia (), is a town and comune in the province of Perugia (Italy) in southeastern Umbria. Unlike many ancient towns, it is located in a wide plain abutting the Monti Sibillini, a su ...

. In 1999, she again claimed the singles and mixed titles in Frydek-Mistek. She competed at the

2000 Sydney Olympics 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 ...

, the 2004 Olympics in Athens and the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, reaching the third round of the singles competition in each of them. She also competed in the team competition in Beijing. In May 2011, she qualified for her fourth Olympic attendance in the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

where she was knocked out in the third round. She competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in Rio de Janeiro. She was defeated in the fourth round by

Feng Tianwei Feng Tianwei (, ; born 31 August 1986) is a Singaporean retired table tennis player. Born in China, she permanently moved to Singapore in March 2007 at the age of 20 under the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme and commenced her international car ...

of Singapore. She also competed in the women's team event, but the Austrian team was defeated by Japan in the quarterfinals. Liu was the flag bearer for Austria during the Parade of Nations. In the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, Liu defeated 12-year-old Syrian Hend Zaza in the preliminary round of the Women's Singles, with a score of 11:4, 11:9, 11:3, 11:5. Zaza was the youngest competitor in the games, the youngest table tennis player to compete in any Olympics, and the first Syrian table tennis player to qualify for the Olympics. In the first round Liu defeated Ukrainian Hanna Haponova.

Results

European Championships

*European Champion Women's Singles: 2005 Aarhus *Silver medal Women's Singles: 2008 St Petersburg *Silver medal Women's Singles: 2010 Ostrava *Bronze medal Mixed: 2005 Aarhus (with

Werner Schlager Werner Schlager (born September 28, 1972 in Wiener Neustadt, Austria) is a table tennis player and former world champion from Austria. Career Schlager began playing table tennis when he was six years old, learning from his father, Rudolph Schla ...

) *Bronze medal Mixed: 2002 Zagreb (with Werner Schlager)

World Championships

*Quarterfinals Women's Singles and Doubles: 2001 Osaka *6th place Women's Team: 2008 Guangzhou

Pro Tour

*Winner 2012 Czech Open: Women's Singles *Winner 2008 German Open: Women's Singles *Winner 2004 Brazil Open: Women's Singles *Winner 2004 US Open: Women's Doubles *Runner-up 2006 Polish Open: Women's Singles and Doubles *Runner-up 2004 Egypt Open: Women's Singles *Runner-up 2004 Croatia Open: Women's Singles *Runner-up 2003 Korea Open: Women's Singles *Runner-up 2001 Brazil Open: Women's Singles *Runner-up 2001 Croatia Open: Women's Doubles *Runner-up 1999 Czech Open: Women's Doubles *Runner-up 1999 Australian Open: Women's Doubles *Runner-up 1999 Qatar Open: Women's Doubles ITTF Statistics – Liu Jia (Retrieved 1 November 2011).

References

External links