Rong Guotuan

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Yung Kuo Tuan
Personal information
Full name Traditional Chinese:容國團
Romanisation: Yung Kuo Tuan
Mandarin Pinyin: Rong Guotuan
Nationality  Hong Kong, UK (before 1957)
 China (since 1957)
Born (1937-08-10)August 10, 1937
Hong Kong, United Kingdom
Died June 20, 1968(1968-06-20) (aged 30)
Beijing, China
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Yung (Chinese: 容) .

Yung Kuo Tuan (simplified Chinese: 容国团; traditional Chinese: 容國團; Mandarin Pinyin: Róng Guótuán; Jyutping: jung4 gwok3 tyun4; August 10, 1937 - June 20, 1968), commonly known as Rong Guotuan, was a Chinese male table tennis player.[1] He won men's singles title at the 1959 World Table Tennis Championships in Dortmund, the first world championship winner representing People's Republic of China. During the Cultural Revolution, Yung was framed as "Spy Suspect". He committed suicide on June 20, 1968.[2][3]

Early years

Yung Kuo Tuan was born in Hong Kong, 1937. Native place of his family was in current Zhuhai, Guangdong Province of China.[1] He had started playing table tennis since his childhood and participated in competitions in Hong Kong as a junior. In 1957, Yung made up his mind to return to China. He won national champion in the following year and was later selected as a member of the national team.

First World Champion of the People's Republic of China

Yung's participation in the World Table Tennis Championships began in Dortmund, 1959.[4] Chinese men's team faced Hungary at the semifinals of the team competition. Yung lost to Zoltán Berczik, the 1958 European champion, in three games. He defeated Laszlo Foldy but lost to the 1953 World Championships winner Ferenc Sidó at the eighth team match. The Chinese team was defeated by Hungary, 3–5.[5]

In men's singles competition, Yung recorded 7 straight wins to clinch the men's world champion.[5][6] He became the first world championship winner after the foundation of the People's Republic of China. The first table tennis ball Double Happiness (DHS, Chinese: 红双喜) made in China for international competitions was named after Yung's victory at the Championships and the tenth anniversary of the PRC's establishment in 1959.[7]

At the 1961 World Table Tennis Championships in Beijing, Yung helped Chinese men's team won the first team title by defeating Japan and Hungary in the finals.[8] After 1964, he worked as the coach of Chinese women's team.[1] The women's team won their first champion at the 1965 World Championships.

Death in Cultural Revolution

The Cultural Revolution initiated in 1966 caused professional sportsmen to be denounced as "sprouts of revisionism" and the Chinese team were absent from the 1967 World Championships.[9] Yung Kuo-Tuan and other members of the national team, Fu Qifang and Jiang Yongning, were placed under house arrest by Red Guards.[10] They were each condemned on trumped-up charges of spying and subjected to torture and public humiliation. Fu and Jiang committed suicide after sustained periods of detention and torture in 1968. Yung Kuo Tuan hanged himself on June 20 in the same year.

In 1978, the State Physical Culture and Sports Commission rehabilitated Yung Kuo-Tuan's honor.[1] In 1987, a bronze statue of Yung Kuo Tuan was built in his homeland, Zhuhai city.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "YUNG Kuo-Tuan". Confucius Institute Online. Retrieved 2 April 2011. 
  2. ↑ Steven N. S. Cheung (1989). "憶容國團" [Remembering YUNG Kuo-Tuan] (in Chinese). Retrieved 2 April 2011. 
  3. ↑ Steven N. S. Cheung, Chung Lau. "Remembering YUNG Kuo-Tuan". Retrieved 2 April 2011. 
  4. ↑ "RONG Guotuan/YUNG Kuo-Tuan (CHN)". International Table Tennis Federation. Retrieved 3 April 2011. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "International Table Tennis Federation Archives: 1959 Dortmund". ITTF Museum. Retrieved 3 April 2011. 
  6. ↑ "World Championships Results: Men's Singles" (PDF). ITTF Museum. Retrieved 3 April 2011. 
  7. ↑ "About DHS". Double Happiness. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  8. ↑ "International Table Tennis Federation Archives: 1961 Peking". ITTF Museum. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  9. ↑ Olsson, Nils Viktor (29 May 2010). "Ping-Pong Politics: How Table Tennis Became The National Sport of The PRC and Its Role in Modern Chinese Politics" (PDF). Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  10. ↑ Matthew Syed (17 February 2007). "Cultural Revolution villain or victim? Zhuang pleads his case forty years on". The Times. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
Organization
History
  • Ping Pong Diplomacy
Notable players
  • Sport in the People's Republic of China
  • List of Chinese Table Tennis players
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