Qin Zhijian appointed China's chief table tennis coach

BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Table Tennis Association on Monday announced its national team coaching lineup for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic cycle, appointing Qin Zhijian as chief coach and Xiao Zhan as deputy chief coach.

Qin, a current CTTA vice president, previously served as head coach of China's men's team during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic cycle. Under his leadership, China won the men's singles and team gold medals at the Tokyo Games, the men's singles and doubles titles at the 2019 world championships in Budapest, the men's singles crown at the 2021 worlds in Houston, and the men's team title at the 2022 World Team Championships in Chengdu.

Xiao, 57, was the mixed doubles group leader during the 2024 Paris Olympic cycle, overseeing China's titles in the event at the Paris Games, the 2023 world championships in Durban and the 2025 worlds in Doha.

Wang Hao and Ma Lin will continue as head coaches of the men's and women's teams, respectively. The CTTA also confirmed the head coaches for the men's and women's junior teams, along with 20 other coaches.

The association said the new coaching group has a "reasonable age structure," with 16 coaches retained from the previous Olympic cycle. ■