Recently, according to Korean media reports, renowned Korean table tennis player Tian Zhixi announced her withdrawal from the Korean national table tennis team. A short video of her returning to Beijing has also been circulating online, showing a very happy Tian Zhixi loudly declaring to the camera: "I'm home, my beloved Beijing."
Of course, this does not mean that Tian Zhixi will completely bid farewell to table tennis. Future Securities Team also pointed out that due to the possibility of Tian Zhixi signing with other teams, it is uncertain whether she will completely say goodbye to table tennis. Sources revealed that Tian Zhixi will return to China for rest next.
Speaking of Tian Zhixi, fans who follow table tennis are very familiar with her. Born in Hebei Province in 1992, Tian Zhixi was once a student of the well-known table tennis coach Yin Xiao. Although she has good talent and strength, the competition in domestic table tennis is very fierce, making it very difficult for Tian Zhixi to enter the national team based on her own abilities. Therefore, from a professional perspective, Tian Zhixi ultimately chose to join the Korean team. In January 2011, she became the adopted daughter of her father's Korean friend, passed the naturalization exam, and obtained Korean nationality; in August 2016, Tian Zhixi participated in the Rio Olympics as a member of the Korean team.
With solid fundamentals, Tian Zhixi gradually became the top female player in Korean table tennis. However, her main achievements are in mixed doubles and women's doubles, with average results in women's singles. Currently ranked 17th in the world in women's singles, Tian Zhixi is the second-ranked Korean women's singles player, only behind Shin Yubin, who is ranked 10th. This is not because her singles skills are weak, but because the strength of Chinese table tennis players in women's singles is too strong. Although her singles results are not outstanding, in mixed doubles, her partnership with Lee Sangsu was once on par with Liu Shiwen/Xu Xin and Ito Mima/Mizutani Jun. In women's doubles, her partnership with Shin Yubin is a frequent top-three in the world, and the two have won the women's doubles championship at the Hangzhou Asian Games. On August 10 this year, she led the Korean team to win the bronze medal in the women's team event at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as the main force of the Korean team.
