Ma Lin (table tennis)

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This is a Chinese name; the family name is Ma.

Ma Lin

Personal information
Full name:	Ma Lin
Nationality:	China
Playing Style:	Pen holder grip
Date of birth:	February 19, 1980 (1980-02-19) (age 28)
Place of birth:	Shenyang, CHN

Medal record
Men's table tennis
Competitor for China
Olympic Games
Gold	2004 Athens	Doubles

Ma Lin (simplified Chinese: 马琳, born February 19, 1980) is a male table tennis player born in the Shenyang, Liaoning Province of China. He is the world's number two ranked player as of December 5, 2007 in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

He learned to play table tennis at the age of six and became a member of the provincial team in 1990. In 1994, he joined the Chinese national team. He is considered to have some of the best serves in the world.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Style and equipment

Ma Lin's style is the penhold style. However, in addition to the traditional backhand push, Ma has also incorporated the reverse backhand, resulting in 3 different possible strokes to use during a game (forehand, backhand, reverse backhand). The reverse backhand is an innovative stroke to compensate for the penholder's weak traditional backhand. It utilizes the underside of the blade, whereas only one side was originally used. He lost thrice in World Championship Finals, but has won four World Cup trophies—in 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2006—more than any other player in history.

He is one of the best known table tennis players in China and around the world. He was seeded first in World Championship in Zagreb (2007), however, he lost in the final to his compatriot Wang Liqin, after leading 3–1 in games, and being 7–1 up, in the fifth game. At a post-match press conference, it was revealed that his maternal grandfather committed suicide before the tournament began.

Ma Lin had been using Yasaka Extra Penhold, but is now using Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive Penhold as his blade. He uses Skyline 2 for his forehand, and Bryce for his backhand.