Matthew Philip Syed (born 2 November 1970) is an English journalist, author, broadcaster and 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 ...
player. He competed as an English table tennis international, and was the English number one for many years.
Syed is a three-time men's singles champion at the
Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships (in 1997, 2000 and 2001), and also
competed for Great Britain in two
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
: at
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
in 1992 and at
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
in 2000.
During his sporting career, Syed entered journalism, and later became a writer. He has worked for ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' newspaper since 1999, and has published several books.
Early life
Syed was born in
Reading, Berkshire
Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...
, England. His father, Abbas Syed, was a
Pakistani immigrant to Britain who converted from Islam to Christianity, and his mother is Welsh.
Syed attended the
Maiden Erlegh School in
Earley near Reading, then studied at
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world.
With a governing body of a master and aro ...
, where he graduated with
first-class honours in
philosophy, politics and economics
Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...
in 1995.
Sporting career
A right-handed table-tennis player, Syed was the top-ranked player in England for nearly 10 years. He won many titles with his usually defensive style. He reached his top world ranking of 25 at the end of 1998.
He reached the final of the European Youth Championships in 1985, losing to
Dmitry Mazunov. Syed was a member of the English team that won the European title in 1986.
He represented Great Britain in the men's singles at the
1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the
2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, but failed to reach the second knockout stage each time. He says that he "choked" at the
Sydney Olympics: "when I walked out into the mega-watt light of the competition arena, I could hardly hit the ball."
He was English champion four times: in 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001. He also won the men's singles event at three consecutive
Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships (in 1997 in Glasgow, 2000 in Singapore and 2001 in Delhi), and also won three titles as a member of the English men's team in 1994, 1997 and 2000. He was a member of the England men's team that won the gold medal at the
2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
Author and commentator
Syed has worked as a commentator for the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
and
Eurosport
Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia, owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its WBD Sports unit, it operates two main channels—Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...
, and as a journalist for ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' since 1999. He is a regular pundit on radio and television, commentating on sporting, cultural and political issues. His film ''China and Table Tennis'', made for the BBC, won bronze medal at the Olympic Golden Rings ceremony in
Lausanne
Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
in 2008.
Syed's style has been mocked by satirical magazine ''
Private Eye
''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised ...
''.
In his second book, ''Black Box Thinking'', which was published by
John Murray in 2015, he argues that the key to success is a positive attitude to failure.
Syed is the co-founder of Matthew Syed Consulting. He was one of the co-founders of TTK Greenhouse, a sports-related charity.
Syed hosts a
BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...
podcast called ''Flintoff, Savage & The Ping Pong Guy''. Alongside him on the podcast are ex-England cricketer
Andrew Flintoff
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff (born 6 December 1977), is an English television and radio presenter and former international cricketer. Flintoff played all forms of the game and was one of the sport's leading all-rounders, a fast bowler, middle-ord ...
and former Blackburn Rovers captain
Robbie Savage. Current sporting topics are discussed on the podcast.
In 2016, Syed was awarded an honorary doctorate in Liberal Arts by
Abertay University in
Dundee
Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
.
His book ''You Are Awesome'' was published in 2018. The publisher describes it as "a positive and empowering guide to help children build resilience". A follow-up, ''Dare to be You'', was released in 2020.
In 2021, Syed began presenting a new programme on
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
, ''Sideways'', about "the ideas that shape our lives". In 2022, he published his third children's book, ''What Do You Think?'' (2022).
Politics
Syed stood as the
Labour Party candidate in the
2001 UK General Election in
Wokingham
Wokingham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is the main administrative centre of the wider Borough of Wokingham. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 38,284 and the wider built-up area had a populati ...
, coming third in a safe Conservative seat. He won a place on the Labour shortlist to succeed
Ashok Kumar
Ashok Kumar (born Kumudlal Ganguly; 13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema. He is considered to be the first Super-st ...
for the
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in the
2010 UK General Election, but the party selected
Tom Blenkinsop, who had worked in Kumar's constituency office for six years.
In the
2019 Conservative Party leadership election, Syed endorsed
Jeremy Hunt
Sir Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2022 to 2024 and Foreign Secretary from 2018 to 2019, having previously served as Secretary of State for Health a ...
.
Personal life
Syed is married to Kathy Weeks. They have a son and a daughter.
Books
* ''Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success'' (
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
, 2010),
* ''Black Box Thinking: Why Most People Never Learn from Their Mistakes – But Some Do'' (Portfolio, 2015),
* ''The Greatest: What Sport Teaches Us About Achieving Success'' (John Murray, 2017),
* ''
You Are Awesome: Find Your Confidence and Dare to be Brilliant at (Almost) Anything'' (John Murray, 2018),
* '' Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking'' (John Murray, 2019),
* ''Dare to Be You: Defy Self-Doubt, Fearlessly Follow Your Own Path and Be Confidently You!'' (Hachette Children's Group, 2020),
* ''What Do YOU Think?: How to agree to disagree and still be friends'' (Hachette Children's Group, 2022),
See also
*
List of England players at the World Team Table Tennis Championships
References
External links
*
Erik Lindh vs. Mattew Syed – Sear's International Challenge – Video* stephen Jones
"Matthew Syed: You can't box-tick your way to real diversity" ''
Management Today'', 2 March 2020.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Syed, Matthew
1970 births
Living people
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
BBC Radio 5 Live presenters
British sportsperson-politicians
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England
Commonwealth Games gold medallists in table tennis
English male journalists
English male table tennis players
English non-fiction writers
English people of Pakistani descent
English people of Welsh descent
English sportswriters
Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
Olympic table tennis players for Great Britain
People associated with the University of Abertay Dundee
Sportspeople from Reading, Berkshire
Table tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Table tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Table tennis players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
The Times people